The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) has seized a massive quantity of the deadly opioid fentanyl—enough to kill millions of U.S. citizens.
Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine.
Drug trafficking rings usually distribute fentanyl by kilograms, the office stated. With one kilogram having the potential to kill 500,000 people, 92.5 pounds is enough to kill roughly 20 million. At a street value of $100 per gram, the seized fentanyl’s total estimated value comes to about $4.2 million.
The confiscation comes after the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) warned in early April of a surge in mass overdose events involving fentanyl. The DEA categorizes overdoses as mass events only when there are three or more such cases occurring during a short period of time within the same location.
In a letter to law enforcement agencies, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram pointed out that there have been seven such mass overdose incidents since January in which 58 people died, with 29 of the deaths involving fentanyl.
On Dec. 27, a teenager was found dead in Rocklin, California, after consuming a counterfeit pill made of fentanyl. The teenager, 17-year-old Zachary Didier, was a talented musician and standout athlete. He had taken the pill assuming it was another drug.
The organization is involved in the distribution of these fentanyl test strips.
“They are very sensitive, meaning that the comparison tests have shown that they are likely to show fentanyl if it’s there and I’m comfortable with that as a community test,” Clanon said.