Federal drug agents seized 20 kilos of fentanyl this week that was being transported from Grand Rapids to metro Detroit.
According to Mlive.com, The Drug Enforcement Administration said that amount of the painkiller fentanyl was enough to provide a deadly dose to nearly all 10 million people in Michigan.
On March 22, Kent County investigators alerted the feds after suspects with alleged connections to a Mexican drug cartel dispatched a female courier to deliver the massive fentanyl shipment to the Detroit area, a news release said.
Later that evening, Michigan State Police and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office seized 20 kilos of fentanyl and a firearm during a traffic stop in metro Detroit. Officials arrested an Ohio woman during the bust.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid used for pain relief, is about 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin, federal drug officials say. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, an estimated 107,622 Americans died from drug overdose in 2021 with about two-thirds involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a potentially lethal dose.
The DEA says cartels like CJNG and Sinaloa are behind the “vast majority” of fentanyl trafficked in the United States. “Drug cartels like CJNG and Sinaloa attempt to flood our communities with illicit drugs,” said DEA Special Agent in Orville O. Greene in a statement.
“We will continue to work vigorously to identify other associates tied to the delivery of this fentanyl that would have caused untold suffering had it reached its intended destination.”
