SAN DIEGO (KNX) — A massive amount of fentanyl was found hidden in the spare tire and gas tank of a truck trying to cross the U.S. border into California, federal officials said this week.
U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped a black 2015 GMC truck on Interstate 8 in the San Diego County community of Campo, near the Golden Acorn Casino, at about 3 a.m. Monday. A Border Patrol K-9 alerted to the vehicle, prompting a search.
Multiple bundles concealed in the spare tire and gas tank turned out to contain approximately 250 pounds of pills that tested positive for fentanyl. The drugs were estimated to have a street value of $3,679,000.
The driver, a U.S. citizen, and the drugs were turned over to the DEA, and the vehicle was seized by the Border Patrol.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin, and up to 100 times more potent that morphine. A miniscule amount is enough to cause a fatal overdose, and the amount seized on Monday was enough to kill more than 40 million people.
Fatal overdoses during the pandemic surged among teens due to the increasing use of fentanyl in fake pills, according to a UCLA study.
Illicitly manufactured fentanyl led to a significant rise in overdose deaths for Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native people during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC study analyzed data from 25 states and the District of Columbia and found that in 2020, overdose death rates increased 44% for Black people, and 39% for American Indians and Alaska Natives compared to 2019.
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