An pulled over for speeding in allegedly had enough fentanyl in his truck to kill millions, federal prosecutors say.
Francisco Joel Garcia Farias, 26, now faces federal charges after a Lincoln County sheriffs deputy stopped his pickup on a rural highway and a narcotics detection dog alerted to the vehicle, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Nevada.
Inside, authorities say they found 13 large storage totes packed with approximately 30 pounds of suspected fentanyl and 677 pounds of suspected , a combined haul of more than 700 pounds.
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“The massive scale of this seizure underscores the staggering volume of illicit narcotics flowing into our communities from transnational criminal organizations,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada.
“Fourteen kilograms of fentanyl alone represents approximately seven million potentially lethal two-milligram doses â enough to kill more than twice the population of Nevada â and, when combined with over 650 pounds of methamphetamine, represents an estimated street value of approximately $2 million,” Chattah said.
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Based on that lethal-dose estimate, the fentanyl could potentially kill nearly twice the population of Los Angeles, everyone in Indiana, or roughly the entire population of Paraguay.
“These staggering quantities reflect a blatant disregard for human life, driven purely by profit,” Chattah said.
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The identified Garcia Farias as an illegal immigrant in its announcement of the charges.
The bust began Oct. 13 on U.S. Highway 93 near Ash Springs, Nevada, when a deputy saw the pickup traveling above the posted speed limit, according to prosecutors account of the criminal complaint.
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After the dog alerted, deputies searched the truck and uncovered numerous vacuum-sealed packages inside the totes.
Authorities recovered approximately 187 packages of a white crystalline substance weighing about 307.22 kilograms, along with 13 brick-shaped packages weighing approximately 14 kilograms. Field tests of selected samples were positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl, respectively, prosecutors said.
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U.S. Attorney General said the seizure kept a potentially deadly drug supply off American streets.
“Anyone who plans to release a deadly drug like fentanyl onto A
