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Tag: drug bust

  • Police Seize 976 Pounds Of Marijuana, 2,000 THC Vaping Cartridges In Massive Bust

    Police Seize 976 Pounds Of Marijuana, 2,000 THC Vaping Cartridges In Massive Bust

    The shipment was headed to Georgia before it was intercepted.

    Law enforcement officials in North Texas got a lot more than they bargained for during a routine traffic stop on November 18, CBS News reports.

    A conversation with the driver raised the suspicion of a Sheriff’s Criminal Interdiction Unit deputy who searched the car after getting consent from the driver. The massive haul was reportedly from California and was on its way to Georgia before it was intercepted by authorities. One person was arrested.

    Another Bust Heading To North Carolina

    The North Texas bust is one of many big-time drug seizures coming out of California. Two days ago, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas intercepted a delivery during a stop that netted 65 grams of meth, around 50 pounds of marijuana, opioids, drug paraphernalia and loaded weapons. The big haul was on its way to North Carolina. The driver was taken into custody.

    Marijuana trafficking out of California has become quite common since the state legalized the drug for recreational use in 2016. In the 2019 fiscal year, authorities in California have  seized more than $1.5 billion worth of illegally grown marijuana. 

    “Illegal cannabis grows are devastating our communities. Criminals who disregard life, poison our waters, damage our public lands, and weaponize the illegal cannabis black market will be brought to justice,” said Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a recent press release.

    Campaign Against Marijuana Planting Program

    The Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) Program, the nation’s largest illegal marijuana eradication program, has arrested 148 individuals, eradicated 953,459 marijuana plants from 345 raided grow sites across the state and seized a total of 168 weapons.

    “This year, our CAMP teams worked tirelessly across the state to vigorously enforce California’s laws against illegal cannabis activity. The California Department of Justice is extremely proud of our partnership with federal, state, and local agencies and we look forward to continuing this necessary work.”

    The unlicensed black market remains massive in the golden state where, according to NBC News, “illegal sellers outnumber legal and regulated businesses almost 3-to-1.”

    “Our participation works to prevent this illegal market in order to promote a fair market place for those growers, producers, and vendors who choose to operate within the system that the voters approved,” said Robert Paoletti, Coordinator Colonel, California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Orange County Sheriffs Seize 18 Pounds Of Fentanyl In Single Bust

    Orange County Sheriffs Seize 18 Pounds Of Fentanyl In Single Bust

    More than 100 pounds of fentanyl have been seized in the OC this year. 

    Sheriffs’ deputies in Orange County, California reported the seizure of 18 pounds of fentanyl, amounting to nearly half of the total amount of fentanyl that OC authorities seized in 2018.

    The bust, which had a reported street value of $1.25 million, was reported by media sources to be enough fentanyl to create “four million lethal doses.”

    Fentanyl-Related Deaths In Orange County Surge

    Though a win for law enforcement, the seizure also underscored the threat posed by fentanyl to Orange County, which has seen a substantial increase in the number of overdose deaths related to the potent synthetic opioid over the last five years.

    According to the Orange County Register, investigators confiscated the fentanyl on October 16, as well as a loaded semi-automatic handgun, five pounds of heroin, a half-pound of methamphetamine, and $71,000 in cash.

    Sheriffs’ deputies also arrested Rudolph Garcia, 60, who was booked on suspicion of possessing fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine, as well as being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was held on $2 million bail.

    OC Sheriffs Have Seized More Than 100 Pounds Of Fentanyl In 2019

    Los Angeles CBS affiliate KCBS quoted the Orange Country sheriff’s department’s figures regarding fentanyl seizures over the last four years, which have risen from less than a pound in 2016 to 44 pounds in 2018. The October 16 bust raised the total amount seized in 2019 to more than 100 pounds.

    “[The October 16 seizure] was enough fentanyl in one seizure to kill the entire county’s 3.2 million residents three times over,” said Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes. “It’s very dangerous [and] it’s not getting better. It’s getting worse. And I think as a county, as a state and as a country, we have to get out ahead of this.”

    Fentanyl-related overdose deaths have risen sharply in the state of California over the last half-decade, and Orange County is no exception. In March 2019, the Orange County Register quoted the county coroner’s report from 2018, which found that the number of fentanyl-related deaths increased 164% between 2014 and 2016 before jumping another 54% between 2016 and 2017 alone.

    And according to a Facebook post from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, those numbers skyrocketed between 2017 and 2018, which saw a 149% increase in fentanyl overdose deaths.

    The social media post also noted that the Orange County Crime Lab reported a 101% increase in the presence of fentanyl in various drugs confiscated throughout the county, with 225 drugs found to contain fentanyl in June 2019—again, a staggering increase of 91% from statistics reported in June 2018.

    “The threat this extremely potent drug poses to our community is increasing exponentially, not subsiding,” said Barnes in a statement.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Drugs That Look Like Children’s Candy Discovered By Georgia Police

    Drugs That Look Like Children’s Candy Discovered By Georgia Police

    The cartoon-shaped pills were molded in the likeness of Homer Simpson, the Minions and Hello Kitty.

    Popular cartoon characters in the form of brightly colored candy are actually hidden receptacles for drugs, says the Hapeville Police Department in Georgia.

    The cartoon-shaped pills were molded in the likeness of iconic cartoon characters like Homer Simpson, Hello Kitty, and the Minions.

    The Hapeville Police Department Cpl. Jason Dyer wrote a Facebook post updating the community on the “major bust,” as reported by The State.

    The bust—conducted by the Hapeville Criminal Investigation Division—included cash, firearms (including a stolen gun), suspected marijuana, pills, cannabis lollipops, and suspected powder cocaine.

    Both the cartoon-shaped, unspecified “pills” and the lollipops were designed to look like children’s candy, prompting the Hapeville police to ask community leaders such as teachers and parents to be on the lookout for suspicious goodies.

    The Facebook post by the Hapeville Police Department prompted a few commenters who felt the police department was wasting its time on what one called, “stripper money,” apparently referring to the piles of dollar bills in the photo. Other citizens were grateful to the police department for its hard work.

    This bust comes a month before Halloween, a time when parents might feel a little paranoid about the candy kids are getting a hold of. Old stories of tampering with Halloween candy might come to mind, but in general, candy tampering has not been a real danger for American children.

    In 2017, a major drug bust in Atlanta included meth lollipops shaped like flowers. While concerns were that drug dealers were targeting children, drug policy expert Bill Piper of the Drug Policy Alliance disagreed.

    “It’s easy for people to fall for this marketing to children because there’s this misconception that drug dealers are standing on the street corner handing out free drugs,” Piper told The Washington Post. “Adults don’t want nasty-tasting stuff either. We especially find in the flavored meth, a lot of that turned out to be flavoring for adults.”

    In addition, drugs that look like candy are easier to move throughout communities.

    That being said, the Channel Islands has a Halloween candy safety tip page on its website that is worth a visit for parents. One tip states that parents should tell their children not to open or consume any non-commercially packaged candies or foods on Halloween night.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Woman Reportedly Caught With 1.5 Million Lethal Doses Of Fentanyl

    Woman Reportedly Caught With 1.5 Million Lethal Doses Of Fentanyl

    A woman traveling from Los Angeles to New York City was reportedly caught with five pounds of fentanyl in a suitcase.

    Authorities in Kansas City arrested a woman at a bus station who was traveling across the country, from Los Angeles to New York, carrying five pounds of fentanyl—reportedly enough of the drug to cause 1.5 million lethal overdoses.

    Kansas City Police noticed 33-year-old Evelyn C. Sanchez was “intently watching” detectives as they searched through the luggage on the bus.

    When asked, Sanchez told authorities she was heading to New York for “maybe a week,” but the story fell apart when officers reportedly noticed she had not packed a lot of clothing in her luggage.

    Following her questioning, K-9 units sniffed inside the bus and indicated a suitcase near Sanchez’s seat on the bus. When the other bus passengers did not claim the suitcase as theirs, police asked Sanchez and she admitted it was hers before allowing officers to search it.

    Authorities noted that she seemed “very nervous.”

    When asked, Sanchez told police she had “drugs,” according to court records. She did not seem to know what exactly she had, “but it’s a lot.”

    Officers checked inside and did indeed find a lot of drugs—over five pounds of fentanyl, “capable of killing thousands of people,” according to Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith.

    Local authorities cooperated with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the investigation. The DEA estimates the amount of fentanyl could kill several orders of magnitude more people than Smith’s estimates, claiming the operation took “1.5 million lethal doses from the streets.”

    There’s no telling where the fentanyl was ultimately heading yet, but it was almost guaranteed to help drive up the number of overdose deaths in the United States and further exacerbate the impact of the opioid crisis.

    Of 72,000 overdose deaths in 2017, 50,000 of those were opioid-related—30,000 of which were from fentanyl or related synthetic opioids.

    The drug is even getting to people who don’t want them—of 907 samples of drugs sold as heroin in Vancouver, Canada, 822 contained fentanyl.

    The U.S. Attorney’s office says Sanchez is in federal custody and awaiting a court date to be scheduled.

    View the original article at thefix.com