Arizona State Troopers Discover 37 Pounds of Suspected Fentanyl Concealed Inside Unicorn Backpack

Bags of fentanyl seized in an operation at the U.S.-Mexico border in Tohono O'odham Nation. DOI

Arizona state troopers discovered over 37 pounds of suspected fentanyl pills hidden inside a unicorn backpack during a traffic stop on Wednesday, the Department of Public Safety announced.

Troopers were conducting a traffic stop on a driver on northbound Interstate 17 at milepost 265, north of Cordes Junction located over an hour north of Phoenix, when they found the drugs concealed inside of the bag.

“During the traffic stop, multiple indicators of criminal activity were observed, and a narcotics detection canine was utilized,” officials said in a press release.

“Following a positive alert, troopers discovered 37.5 pounds of suspected fentanyl pills, one gram of cocaine, and a loaded AK-47 style pistol concealed in the vehicle.”

Officials identified the driver as 22-year-old Ray Rodriguez of Glendale, California. His passenger was named as 22-year-old Nathan Perez of Avondale, Arizona.

Both men were arrested and taken to the Yavapai County Jail, where they were charged with “possession, transportation, and sale of a narcotic drug,” according to officials.

They have both been determined as “prohibited possessors” and charged with misconduct involving weapons.

The arrests came just one day after Cheri Oz, a special agent in charge of the Phoenix Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), warned of the dangers of fentanyl, a highly addictive and deadly drug that was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat acute pain.

Oz told ABC15 Arizona that 6 million fentanyl pills were taken off the streets in the state in 2020, with that number more than doubling in 2021 to 12 million.

So far this year, agents have already seized more than 4 million pills, placing them on track to surpass last year’s record.

“I’m terrified because I know how dangerous and deadly these pills are,” Oz said. “It scares me because it’s in your community. These pills are in your schools, in your neighborhoods. I can tell you that any promises you’re told, these pills are dangerous and once you take one, there is no going back.”

The DEA noted that 42 percent of pills that are seized by officials contain enough fentanyl to be considered deadly.

Earlier in April, separate DEA officials warned of an uptick in mass overdose events—where three or more overdoses occur within the same location and within a close period of time—involving fentanyl across the United States, and said the drug is killing Americans at an “unprecedented” rate.

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As of April 6, there had been at least seven mass overdose incidents since the start of the year in states including Colorado, Texas, Nebraska, and Florida.

Many of those who overdosed were unaware that they were ingesting fentanyl, officials said, and the combined incidents left a total of 29 people dead.

The latest drug seizure comes after officers seized 20 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 74,000 fentanyl pills, 6.5 pounds of heroin, and 84 pounds of methamphetamine during a large-scale raid in Arizona.

Those drugs had an estimated street value of $1,256,500.