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By the time they got to Phoenix, cops were waiting.
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Two Arizona sisters were busted when cops claim they discovered more than 850,000 fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills as they drove towards the state’s largest city.
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According to cops, Kimberli Guadalupe Torres-Marin, 26, and Alexa Torres-Marin, 19, were indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury with one count of sale or transportation of narcotic drugs, a class two felony, according to an announcement from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
The sister act was nabbed on Aug. 24 after deputies pulled them over and allegedly found the stash of pills in duffel bags.
Fentanyl is a highly-addictive opioid that has been blamed for an epidemic of drug overdoses in both the U.S. and Canada with most of the supply originating in clandestine labs in China and Mexico.
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Both Arizona officials and the Drug Enforcement Agency have unleashed a widespread initiative targeting smugglers on the state’s southern border with Mexico.
“Fentanyl is highly addictive and can be lethal if even a small amount is ingested or smoked,” the prosecutor’s office said in a press release.
“Two out of five counterfeit pills that come across our border are laced with lethal doses of fentanyl. These drugs are being marketed to our youth in the most proliferous ways and are being produced in candy-like colors. We must hold those who bring these lethal pills into our community accountable.”
One of the concerns of DEA agents is the brightly-coloured pills look like Sweet Tarts or other candy to entice young children and teens.
And on Monday, officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted five shipments of fentanyl totalling about 400,000 pills. About 10% of the seized narcotics were rainbow-coloured.
Authorities said that among the loads of the deadly drugs, they also seized 152 pounds of methamphetamine.
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