A seemingly innocuous traffic stop turned into a major drug bust.
A traffic stop can be as simple as a fix-it ticket or a warning for a broken taillight. On the other hand, it could lead to a major drug bust. A recent stop in Siskiyou County proved to be the latter, with police finding well over one million lethal doses of fentanyl in a Toyota Camry after stopping the car for a missing license plate light.
Police in Siskiyou County, California found around 1.3 million lethal doses of highly potent fentanyl during a traffic stop
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office says it found and confiscated 2,610 grams of fentanyl and 576.8 grams of marijuana during a traffic stop. The deputy stopped a white Toyota Camry after noticing that it didn’t have a license plate light. Granted, it’s a silly violation. However, the circumstances got worse from there.
After stopping the vehicle, the deputy noticed that the driver, a 20-year-old, didn’t have a valid license. Moreover, the police officer asserts that the three occupants of the vehicle had “several bags of marijuana in plain view.” Consequently, the officer searched the car at the site of the traffic stop, citing probable cause.
During the search, the deputy found a black Nike backpack. Shockingly, the bag contained 2,609.9 grams of a “white crystalline substance.” The substance turned out to be fentanyl, an extremely potent opioid that kills around 200 Americans every day.
Frankly, 2,609.9 grams is about 5.75 lbs. No big deal, right? Wrong. As little as 2 milligrams can be fatal. As such, nearly 6.0 lbs of the stuff has the potential to kill many, many people. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), fentanyl is around 50 times more potent than heroin. What’s more, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office says the volume of fentanyl was enough for around 1.3 million lethal doses of the dangerous substance.
