This past Monday, police officials out of Southern California discovered and subsequently confiscated a staggering 20,000 fentanyl pills while working a routine traffic stop, as reported by police officials.
This past week, narcotics officers stopped a car because of no-specific code violations, as stated in the report from the San Bernardino Police Department. The three people seated in the car were reportedly pulled into police custody with absolutely no issues. The authorities looked through the car and found the stashed drugs — a massive 20,000 fentanyl pills, along with over half an ounce of cocaine. The car also contained a loaded gun alongside over $1,200 cash. The three individuals were arrested and could be charged with multiple felonies.
This past Monday, authorities for San Bernardino Health spoke out about the increasing issues regarding fentanyl as there has been an unprecedented spike in deaths related to overdoses all across San Bernardino County. The public health officer for the county put out a full-scale health advisory concerning the issue.
This particular advisory highlighted that there had been roughly 30 overdose deaths in relation to fentanyl in the county since 2018, but the figure spikes up to a total of 74 as of 2019 and went up even further to a total of 227 for 2020. Last year, they saw a total of 309 fentanyl overdose deaths.
“Deaths related to opioid use, such as fentanyl, are completely preventable,” expressed Dr. Michael Sequeira. “Efforts to reduce the effects of opioid overdose and death are a top priority for San Bernardino County.”
The advisory expressed that fentanyl is “50 to 100 times stronger than morphine and is responsible for more overdose deaths than any other illegal drug in the United States.” It was also highlighted by Dr. Sequeira that “rainbow fentanyl” has become far more prevalent, which can very fatal and easily attract more young people.
Over this past summer, the Drug Enforcement Agency also put out their own statements of warning regarding the new rainbow fentanyl, warning Americans of the dangers of the drug that looks just like normal sidewalk chalk.
“Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” explained DEA Administrator Anne Milgram at that time. “The men and women of the DEA are relentlessly working to stop the trafficking of rainbow fentanyl and defeat the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in the United States.”
The problem of fentanyl continues to be a concerning issue in California and across the country. Rob Bonta, the Attorney General of California, put forth an address about the escalating crisis, speaking about the steps taken by his office to fight the issue. In the release, however, Bonta chose to not address the spike in illegal immigration as a possible cause for the rise in fentanyl cases.
