Customs and Border Protection officials seized about 72,000 fentanyl pills along with 44.75 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the gas tank of a vehicle crossing the southern border into the United States on Thursday.
The seizure took place at the Port of Nogales, Arizona, where agents also discovered 2.45 pounds of fentanyl powder as well as 2.9 pounds of cocaine hidden in the vehicle.
The bust follows the trend of record-level fentanyl seizures. According to a report last month from El Pais, recent seizures at the southern border uncovered new versions of the drug, including rainbow fentanyl.
As Michael Humphries, the CBP port director of the Port of Nogales, said, the colorful drug "looks like candy." After a raid in mid-August, CBP found more than 250,000 pills in a vehicle entering the U.S. through Mexico. A day later, over 15,000 rainbow fentanyl pills were found wrapped around the legs of a person detained at the Nogales, Arizona, border crossing.
"This may signal a new tactic by transnational criminal organizations," Humphries said at the time.
So far, the colorful pills have been found in California, Oregon and Washington state.
"Deputies are particularly concerned about rainbow fentanyl getting into the hands of young adults or children, who mistake the drug for something else, such as candy or a toy," a statement from the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office read after a seizure of some 800 fentanyl pills.
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