A special team of Colorado State Patrol officers confiscated what is believed to be the biggest haul of pure fentanyl powder ever seized on a U.S. highway last month on Interstate 70.
Authorities stopped a car traveling in broad daylight on June 20 headed east toward Denver. Officials found 114 pounds of the narcotic in 48 one-kilo bricks stashed underneath the driver and passenger seats and reachable by a trap door.
The 114-pound seizure could kill nearly 26 million people if they ingested a lethal dose, according to authorities' estimates.
Captain Bill Barkley, who oversees CSP’s Smuggling, Trafficking and Interdiction Unit (STIS), said the identity of the driver must remain secret to protect him from Mexican cartels, who may want to hurt his family. Authorities did not divulge the reason for the stop.
“They don’t care about anything but making money,” Barkley said.
He said the Colorado State Patrol is investigating the case with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Authorities had stopped the car near Georgetown after it had made its way through the Eisenhower Tunnel.
In the five months from the end of January to the end of June, authorities seized a total of 137 pounds of the narcotic, including the 114-pound mega-haul.
According to DEA figures, 137 pounds of pure fentanyl powder could kill as many as 31 million people if a lethal dose were ingested. That's five times more than the entire population of the state, which according to the latest Census Bureau numbers is just under six million people.
Wendy Forbes, Director of Strategic Communications, told the Gazette that the CSP uses the DEA's conversion rate which determines that one kilogram of pure fentanyl powder can kill 500,000 people if a lethal dose is ingested.
Fentanyl traffic is exploding in Colorado. The January to June total in both pure powder and fentanyl pills for January through June 2022 showed a 390% increase from the same period last year.
Fentanyl pressed into pill form, commonly called “blues,” has become so prevalent, the STIS doesn’t count them anymore, choosing instead to monitor amounts in pounds and kilos.
Blues have largely replaced heroin as the primary opioid on the illicit market, and fentanyl powder is increasingly mixed into other drugs, such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine – often without the user’s knowledge.
Barkley said 90% of narcotics come into the U.S. from Mexico smuggled in on highways, in small planes and on trains.
The STIS finds stashes of pills and powder being driven on Colorado highways tucked into doors, behind glove compartments, in spare tires, and most recently, as in the June 20 bust, in trap doors riding underneath the vehicle’s floorboard.
“It’s a continued cat and mouse game between law enforcement and cartels. They actually hire people to engineer trap compartments,” Barkley said. “Whether or not it’s on I-70 or on I-25, or it’s on secondary highways coming into our state, I would bet every hour of every day there is something."
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July 01, 2022 at 11:00PM
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Biggest seizure of pure fentanyl powder on a U.S. highway made in Colorado - Colorado Springs Gazette
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