Police in Pennsylvania seized 50,000 fentanyl pills disguised as prescription opioids and arrested two Arizona men who they said were trafficking the narcotics in a cross-country trek on Friday.
The arrests of Arizona men Leroy Williams and Ryan Hofer were confirmed by Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry (D) in a statement that confirmed a joint effort from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), her office, and Pennsylvania State Police.
Williams and Hofer were arrested in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, but authorities have not released information about where in Arizona they allegedly obtained the drugs. Williams was on supervised release at the time of his arrest, the attorney general’s press release reported. Both men remained behind bars on Friday, with bail set at $800,000 for Williams and $500,000 for Hofer.
“These alleged traffickers were caught with enough poison to have caused devastation across the Commonwealth,” said Henry. “I commend our law enforcement partners for surveilling this operation and making sure this cache of deadly pills did not reach the streets.”
Williams and Hofer are charged with possession with intent to deliver, conspiracy, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, and criminal use of a communication facility. Both men were arrested in Ridley Township, part of Delaware County, which local media reported is about 30 minutes outside Philadelphia.
Just two milligrams of fentanyl is enough to cause a fatal overdose in an adult, according to the DEA. While the drug is often diluted or combined with other drugs, authorities said the fentanyl pills seized in Pennsylvania were pure fentanyl. This means each pill seized in Pennsylvania could have potentially been lethal, recent research indicates, leading to the deaths of up to 50,000. Arizona is considered an origin state for illicit drugs due to its shared border with Mexico.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that about 105,000 people in the United States reported drug overdoses between February 2022 and February 2023.
Though drug seizures at the southern border have fallen dramatically under the Biden administration, the rate of fentanyl seizures has increased by nearly six times since 2020. Authorities have seized more than 27,000 pounds of fentanyl so far in 2023, compared to 14,700 pounds in 2022, 11,200 pounds in 2021, and 4,800 in 2020.
Fentanyl’s growing availability has sparked nationwide concern, with a recent poll showing nine in 10 Americans are now concerned about overdose deaths caused by the drug. Eighty-nine percent of respondents reported some degree of concern, with just 7 percent stating they are not concerned by fentanyl deaths.
Some restaurants, bars, and other businesses open to the public are reportedly responding to the spike by stocking Noxalone, an antidote to fentanyl and opioid doses.
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Tom Pappert is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Tom on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
