Agents discover record amount of fentanyl in drug bust on US border | US News

Officials in the US have seized 114kg (254lbs) of fentanyl, in what is being described as the biggest haul they have ever detected.

The synthetic drug has been fuelling a national epidemic of fatal opioid overdoses, and the stash was discovered in a secret compartment underneath a load of Mexican produce headed for Arizona.

A scan of the tractor-trailer had unearthed “some anomalies” in the load – with police dogs alerting officers to the presence of drugs.

The seized fentanyl had an overall street value of $3.5m (£2.67m), and most of it was in powdered form.

Approximately 179kg (395lbs) of methamphetamine was also seized, with an estimated street value of $1.18m (£900,000).

While fentanyl is legally prescribed by doctors to provide pain relief to cancer patients, it is sold on the street and often mixed with heroin.

Michael Humphries, the director of the port where the drugs were uncovered, said: “The size of a few grains of salt of fentanyl, which is a dangerous opioid, can kill a person very quickly.”

A recent report by the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention found fentanyl to be the drug most often involved in fatal overdoses in the US.

It accounted for more than 18,000 overdoses in 2016 – 29% of the total.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, the previous largest seizure of the drug was 66kg, in a New York apartment linked to the El Chapo’s Sinaloa cartel.

After news of the seizure emerged, Donald Trump tweeted: “Our great U.S. Border Patrol Agents made the biggest Fentanyl bust in our Country’s history. Thanks, as always, for a job well done!”

Doug Coleman, the DEA special agent in charge of the Phoenix division, said the find was the result of “pure, old-fashioned police work” based on the hunch of an agent rather than any intelligence.

“It was totally a cold hit,” he said.