Border officers in Arizona found more than 150,000 multicolored fentanyl pills and other illegal drugs over the past week.
According to Port of Nogales Director Michael Humphries, 26,000 fentanyl pills were found Tuesday in the gas tank of a car.
"9/13, CBP officers at the Nogales POE took down approx 6,000 multicolored fentanyl pills, 20,000 blue fentanyl pills, 2.45 lbs cocaine and 71.7 lbs meth in the gas tank of a car," he tweeted. "As always, good teamwork with our partners at @HSIPhoenix CBP officers and special teams."
A day later, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped a vehicle containing approximately 276,000 fentanyl pills in the spare tire of a vehicle during K9 operations at the same location.
"Approximately 146k of the pills were multicolored. Nice work by the K9 team and officers keeping these opioids off the streets," Humphries said.
In August, agents in Tucson seized 340 packages of fentanyl pills near Gila Bend.
The narcotics were discovered while conducting a vehicle stop on a white Chevy Equinox that had exited Interstate 8.
FBI MAKES 6,000 ARRESTS, SEIZES FIREARMS AND FENTANYL IN MASSIVE SUMMER-LONG OPERATION
"During the stop, border agents observed several black duffel bags in the vehicle’s rear cargo area and that the female driver was noticeably nervous as she was questioned," CBP said in a release.
After receiving consent to search the vehicle, three bags containing packages wrapped in black tape and cellophane – and coated in axle grease – were found, containing an estimated $4.3 million worth of fentanyl.
Two U.S. citizens, both women, were arrested and face prosecution for drug charges.
Fentanyl is generally considered lethal at just 2 milligrams.
