Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) troopers on September 14 seized more than 50pounds of fentanyl during a traffic stop in Pima County, according to a release from this week.
“During the traffic stop, the trooper observed multiple indicators of criminal activity,” the release said. “A subsequent search of the vehicle led to the discovery of 52 pounds of suspected fentanyl pills concealed within a compartment built into the vehicle’s rocker panels. The suspected fentanyl was being smuggled from Nogales, Mexico, to Tucson.”
The suspect is 28-year-old Andres Ramirez-Sanchez from Douglas, Arizona. He was booked into the Pima County Jail on charges of possession, transportation, and sale of narcotic drugs.
The 52 pounds of fentanyl equals 23.5 kilograms of the ultra-potent drug, often used for lacing other drugs like heroin, and is known to cause overdose deaths.
That 23.5 kilograms of fentanyl is equal to 23.5 million milligrams. A lethal dose of fentanyl is estimated to be 2-3 milligrams, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), meaning that Ramirez-Sanchez had in his possession enough fentanyl to kill 9.4 million people.
Earlier this month, a similar bust was made in nearby Pinal County.
During a traffic stop, AZDPS confiscated 42 pounds of fentanyl from 20-year-old Izayah D. Ocasio of Phoenix. He was booked into jail on the same charges as Ramirez-Sanchez.
Forty-two pounds of fentanyl is enough to kill roughly seven million people.
Fentanyl deaths continue to skyrocket across America, as the deadly man-made drug pours over the open southern border.
“Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing this country. According to the CDC, 107,622 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, with 66 percent of those deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl,” according to the DEA. “Drug poisonings are the leading killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. Fentanyl available in the United States is primarily supplied by two criminal drug networks, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Fentanyl” by National Institute on Drug Abuse.
