Cops bust two men with enough deadly fentanyl to kill 4.7 million people

dailystar.co.uk:

drug dealers have been caught with a quantity of deadly fentanyl big enough to have killed 4.7million people, say police.Cops in Orange County, California have charged Edgar Alfonso Lamas, 36, and Carlos Raygozaparedes, 53, after finding a massive haul of 821 lbs (372kg) of meth, almost 190 pounds (86kg) of cocaine and 20.5 pounds (9.3kg) of fentanyl in the back of a minivan.The pair had been stopped as they pulled out of the driveway of a property on March 16.

It is thought to be the largest drug bust in the area for 16 years.While the amount of fentanyl is considerably less than the other substances found inside the vehicle, ingesting just 150 micrograms (0.15g) of fentanyl puts some at significant risk of a fatal overdose.Both Raygozaparedes and Lamas pleaded not guilty to six drug-related counts with enhancements.

They could each face a maximum sentence of 37 years and four months if convicted.The men have had their bail set at $5million (£3.8million) each, and are set to attend a preliminary hearing related to their charges in June.The synthetic opioid Fentanyl is used to help terminally ill cancer patients and women in labour, and is around 100 times stronger than morphine.But it is often used as a cheap substitute for heroin, and has been connected to sudden upticks in drug-related deaths around the world.Between 2008 and 2017 deaths in England from abuse of the substance rose from eight in 2008 to 135 in 2017, and it has also been connected to thousands of fatalities in the United StatesThe drug is available on prescription, but police forces in the UK say it is difficult to stem the tide of fentanyl as it is relatively simple to manufacture in a home laboratory.