Troopers in Arizona uncovered 46 pounds of suspected fentanyl pills hidden inside the compartments of a car during a traffic stop, authorities said Friday.
The incident happened on Aug. 24 on I-10 near Red Rock after a trooper stopped the driver of a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta sedan for moving violations, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.
The trooper noticed multiple signs of criminal activity during the traffic stop and searched the vehicle, revealing 46 pounds of the illicit and deadly pills, the department said.
An investigation determined the pills were being smuggled from Nogales, Mexico, to the Phoenix area.
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Authorities identified the driver as 20-year-old Izayah D. Ocasio, of Phoenix.
Ocasio was arrested and booked into the Pinal County Jail on charges including possession, transportation, and sale of narcotic drugs.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that "is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin as an analgesic," according to the Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics estimates that there were 107,622 drug overdose deaths in 2021, with 71,238 of those deaths related to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
