The DEA announced Tuesday that a task force team busted a New Jersey woman trafficking approximately 15,000 rainbow fentanyl pills stuffed in Lego boxes in Manhattan. The drug agency noted that this “significant seizure” of the multi-colored pills was the largest in New York City’s history.
On September 28, at around 7:10 p.m., task force members — compromised of officers in the New York City’s DEA office and the NYPD — were surveilling a woman who was about to enter a rental car in the Hudson Yards neighborhood. She was noted to be carrying a large black tote bag wrapped around an object.
When officers stopped the vehicle, they found the woman in the back seat with two black tote bags and a Lego box inside. Authorities later discovered — after investigating — that the box contained approximately 15,000 colored pills wrapped in black tape next to Lego bricks.
New Jersey resident, Latesha Bush, 48, was arrested on the scene and was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first and third degrees. She is believed to have driven the rental vehicle from the Garden State prior to being busted.
The DEA stated that preliminary testing of the multi-colored pills “indicated the presence of fentanyl” and believed the narcotics were trafficked from Mexico. The drug agency also noted that the pills were imprinted with “M” and “30” to resemble oxycodone hydrochloride 30 mg pills.
“Fentanyl is the most significant threat to our public health and our public safety,” DEA Special Agent Frank Tarentino said Tuesday regarding the arrest of Bush, per the New York Post. “It is poison. It is a parent’s worst nightmare, especially as Halloween approaches.”
The rainbow fentanyl bust comes as the DEA has been raising the alarm regarding Mexican drug cartels targeting children with deceptive tactics to get them hooked on opioids at a young age.
“Using happy colors to make a deadly drug seem fun and harmless is a new low, even for the Mexican cartels,” stated New York City special narcotics prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan. “Fentanyl is already involved in more than 80% of overdose deaths in the city.”
Last week, Breitbart News reported of two Maryland men who were busted in Connecticut for allegedly trafficking 15,000 rainbow fentanyl pills hidden in Skittles and Nerds packaging.
The DEA recently announced the results of the third phase of its “One Pill Can Kill” campaign, where they “and its law enforcement partners seized more than 10.2 million fentanyl pills and approximately 980 pounds of fentanyl powder during the period of May 23 through Sept. 8, 2022.”
According to the drug agency:
There were 390 cases investigated during this period, 51 cases are linked to overdose poisonings and 35 cases link directly to one or both of the primary Mexican cartels responsible for the majority of fentanyl in the United States – the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). In addition, 129 investigations are linked to social media platforms, including Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and TikTok.
In 2021, over 107,000 Americans died as a result of a drug overdose, with approximately 80,000 of those deaths being linked to opioids — such as fentanyl.
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.
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