$17.5M worth of drugs seized by King County Sheriff’s Office in 2022

KING COUNTY, Wash. — Officials with the King County Sheriff’s Office say $17.5 million dollars’ worth of drugs were seized by the agency last year, and law enforcement is not slowing down.

More significant drug busts are happening across the Puget Sound region, as police continue to sound the alarm on fentanyl.

Seattle police officers arrested eight people in a three-hour operation this weekend.

It’s part of an ongoing effort by the Seattle Police Department and the city to improve safety downtown.

The operation focused on drug deals on Third Avenue and Pike Street, and Second Avenue and Bell Street.

Officers recovered methamphetamine, fentanyl, guns, and cash.

Five arrests were made in the same area three weeks ago, but the drug dilemma reaches far past those specific streets.

New numbers from KCSO show that more than 750,000 fentanyl pills were seized in 2022. Also seized were 30 pounds of powdered fentanyl, 465 pounds of methamphetamine, and more than 26 pounds of heroin.

The numbers show fentanyl and methamphetamine continue to be the two most common drugs seized by law enforcement.

Significant drug busts aren’t just happening in King County. The Whatcom Gang and Drug Task Force said it has had a 2,500% increase in fentanyl seizures since 2020, with 559,396 fentanyl pills seized last year.

A few days before the most recent operation in downtown Seattle, Pierce County deputies seized 90 pounds of methamphetamine and 5 pounds of powdered fentanyl, which investigators say could have produced hundreds of thousands of pills.

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