OAKLAND COUNTY (WWJ) - A massive shipment of fentanyl heading to Detroit from Grand Rapids this week was intercepted by Federal drug agents who say the amount was enough to kill nearly everyone in Michigan.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the drug bust is the largest ever records in state history as agents seized 20 kilograms --roughly 40 pounds -- of fentanyl on Wednesday March 22.
Two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a deadly dose, the DEA explained. The amount of drugs seized on Wednesday is estimated to be enough to kill 10 million people.
Agents in Metro Detroit received a tip from authorities in Kent County, on the west side of the state, enabling them to track the shipment as it made its way to Oakland County, the DEA said.
Federal officials said agents initiated a traffic stop on the suspected carried, a woman from Ohio, and discovered the drugs in powder form. A gun was also recovered from the vehicle.
The DEA said the drugs originated in Mexico with potential ties to a cartel. Agents say the woman, whose name is not being released, was dispatched on behalf of other people to deliver the drugs to Metro Detroit.
“Drug cartels like CJNG and Sinaloa attempt to flood our communities with illicit drugs,” Detroit's DEAchief Orville Greene said in a statement Friday through the Detroit Free Press. “We will continue to work vigorously to identify other associates tied to the delivery of this fentanyl that would have caused untold suffering had it reached its intended destination.”
An estimated 107,000 Americans died in the last year alone from drug poisonings, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Authorities say 66% of those deaths involved synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl.
Law enforcement in Metro Detroit, including the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, assisted in Wednesday's large-scale bust.
Additional information was not released due to the ongoing investigation. More details about the case are expected to be made public at a later time.