One million fentanyl pills seized at Arizona border in one week
Fox News' Bill Melugin reports from Eagle Pass, Texas, on the new fentanyl hotspot in Nogales, Arizona.
Customs and Border Protection officers in Arizona found thousands of rainbow-colored fentanyl pills smugglers tried to sneak into the United States from Mexico over the weekend.
Officers in Nogales, which borders Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, seized 625,000 pills from five separate inspections, Michael Humphries, the port director for the Nogales port of entry for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, tweeted Monday.
Amid the seized pills, 12,000 were rainbow-colored, something that could entice children, while another four pounds were in powder form. Agents also found 34 pounds of methamphetamine and five pounds of marijuana.
In July, seizures of fentanyl at the southern border jumped nearly 200% as overdoes deaths continue to be a concern.
Border agents in Arizona seized thousands of fentanyl pills over the weekend, officials said. (CBP)
Over 2,100 pounds of the drug, which can be fatal in small doses, were seized in July. That’s the highest amount seized in at least the last four fiscal years. The largest seizure before July was in April, where 1,300 pounds were seized. The 2,100 pounds seized in July is up 202% from the 640 pounds seized in June and also eclipses the 780 pounds seized in July last year.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has previously warned of a "nationwide spike" in mass fentanyl overdoses and has said the drug is killing Americans at an "unprecedented rate."
Of the more than 108,000 overdose deaths last year, more than 80,000 were linked with fentanyl.
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Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
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