Police in the San Francisco area reported the seizure of approximately 100 pounds of illicit fentanyl totaling over $4 million, intended to be sold throughout the Bay Area.
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office was behind the capture of the narcotics that have run rampant throughout the few years.
The office shared their success in a tweet, showing dozens of bags that were taken from potentially being on the street.
“This is a glimpse of the fentanyl epidemic,” the office tweeted.
Opioids accounted for nearly 68% of overdose deaths last year, and among those deaths is the synthetic opioid fentanyl, according to DrugAbuseStatistics.org.
The sheriff’s office shared just how deadly fentanyl is, citing DEA that one kilogram of the narcotic, the weight drug trafficking organizations usually distribute it, has the ability to kill 500,000 people.
Lt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said that detectives partnered with the county Narcotics Task Force identified a fentanyl manufacturing lab on Friday and quickly worked to serve two search warrants in Oakland and Hayward, the Associated Press reported.
In total, 92.5 pounds, 42 kilograms, of the drug were recovered with a street value of $100 per gram, or $4.2 million altogether, Kelly shared.
On top of recovering the drugs, Kelly shared that one suspect was arrested, and authorities are continuing to look for a second person involved.
“That’s 42,000 grams that were headed for the streets of the Bay Area,” the Sheriff’s Office said in its tweet.