DEA seizes 30K fentanyl pills during enforcement operation in Tempe

Federal drug agents and Tempe police detectives have seized 30,000 fentanyl pills during an enforcement operation against a drug trafficking organization related to a Mexican cartel.

They say the pills were discovered after a traffic stop during a DEA operation on Sunday.

A search of a vehicle led to the discovery of the fentanyl-laced pills, which authorities say were designed to look like oxycodone pills.

“This massive seizure removed thousands of potentially lethal doses of this powerful narcotic off the streets,” said Doug Coleman, special agent in charge of the DEA in Arizona. “DEA will never relent in its pursuit of Mexican cartels who manufacture huge quantities of fake oxycodone pills using fentanyl."

The agency said the investigation had been targeting a drug trafficking organization related to the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is legal in the United States and is prescribed to cancer patients with severe chronic pain. It is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.

The pills recovered by the DEA on Sunday were blue in color and stamped with an “M” and “30,” similar to counterfeit oxycodone pills found in Arizona earlier this year.

The Arizona Department of Health Services reported a total of 790 Arizonans died in 2016 from opioid overdoses, an increase of 74 percent since 2012.

Republic reporter Sam Hoyle contributed to this article.