32,000 fentanyl pills confiscated in California drug busts - some packed in candy boxes/bags
Submitted by paula on Thu, 10/20/2022 - 10:30pm
There were two large drug busts in California on Wednesday, one in the Los Angeles Airport and the other in the town of Ripon. In total, 32,000 suspected Fentanyl pills were confiscated.
Los Angeles County
On Wednesday, October 19 at 7:30 a.m., the narcotics task force at Los Angeles International Airport seized approximately 12,000 suspected fentanyl pills from a suspect attempting to go through TSA screen with several bags of candy and snacks with the intent to board an airport. The task force, made up of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Narcotics Bureau detectives and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents, discovered the suspected fentanyl inside “Sweetarts.” “Skittles”, and “Whoppers” candy boxes. The suspect fled prior to being detained by law enforcement but has been identified and the investigation is ongoing.
San Joaquin County
Also on Wednesday, October 19, a traffic stop was made on a vehicle traveling near Highway 99 and Main Street in Ripon at 3 p.m. The vehicle had expired registration and was seen tailgating. The San Joaquin County Sheriff's K9, Rango, is crosstrained in apprehension and narcotics detection. K9 Rango alerted deputies to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle.
Inside the vehicle, deputies found approximately 15,000 - 20,000 fentanyl "M30" pills concealed inside hair gel containers. As you can see in the pictures above, some of the pills were the blue color that has been seen in the county for a while, deputies said, along with the relatively new "rainbow" color that has been showing up recently. Testing has indicated that the "rainbow" pills may be more potent, and present a higher risk of overdose.
32-year-old Abril Campos, of Los Angeles, was arrested and booked for possession of narcotics for sale. She also received a citation for expired registration and tailgating.
With Halloween approaching, parents need to make sure they are checking their kids' candy and not allowing them to eat anything until it has been inspected by them, the LA Sheriff's Office said. If you find anything in candy boxes that you believe might be narcotics, do not touch it and immediately notify your local law enforcement agency.