Mexican police found a multi-drug shipment that included an astonishing 100 pounds (45.5 kilograms) of the synthetic opioid fentanyl in a vehicle near the city of Ensenada in Baja California, officials said Thursday.
Fentanyl can be fatal in doses of just a few milligrams. To put the size of the haul in perspective, a seizure last year of 4.5 pounds (2 kilograms) of fentanyl in Columbus, Ohio, was said by prosecutors to be enough to potentially kill the entire population of the city of 860,000 people.
Police in Mexico said the drug shipment seized near Ensenada also included 914 pounds (415 kilograms) of crystal meth, 88 pounds (40 kilograms) of cocaine and 18.5 pounds (8.4 kilograms) of heroin.
In this Jan. 25, 2018 photo released by Mexico’s National Security Commission, packages containing illegal drugs are seen inside a sports utility vehicle after police stopped the car for a missing front license plate, near Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Mexican police found a multi-drug shipment that included an astonishing 100 pounds (45.5 kilograms) of the synthetic opioid fentanyl in a vehicle near the city of Ensenada, officials said Thursday. (National Security Commission via AP)
Police arrested a man who was driving an SUV stuffed with the drugs near Ensenada. The drugs were so bulky they were stuffed into a pile of sacks that filled the rear of the vehicle.
The man was initially stopped because he lacked a front license plate.
Ensenada is located about an hour and a half south of the border with the US state of California.
In November, Mexican authorities seized 31 pounds (14 kilograms) of fentanyl hidden in a car on a highway between the Gulf of California and San Luis Rio Colorado, which is home to a border crossing with Arizona.
An accidental overdose of fentanyl was determined to have killed music legend Prince in April 2016. And a coroner’s finding showed that among the medications found in the system of the late rock star Tom Petty were fentanyl and oxycodone.
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