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DEA Seizes Massive Quantity Of Synthetic Opiate In San Diego

A reporter holds up an example of the amount of fentanyl that can be deadly after a news conference about deaths from fentanyl exposure, at DEA Headquarters in Arlington Va., Tuesday, June 6, 2017.
Associated Press
A reporter holds up an example of the amount of fentanyl that can be deadly after a news conference about deaths from fentanyl exposure, at DEA Headquarters in Arlington Va., Tuesday, June 6, 2017.
DEA Seizes Massive Quantity Of Synthetic Opiate In San Diego
DEA Seizes Massive Quantity Of Synthetic Opiate In San Diego GUEST:Mark Conover, deputy U.S. Attorney, Southern District of California

Our top story on midday today is a new strain of powerful drugs synthetic opioids there multiple times stronger than heroine are coming across the border and arriving in San Diego. Turns out three people found dead in a house in Vista last month died from ingesting fentanyl. Is being sold on the streets as a recreational drug but it can kill. Deputy was attorney Mark Conover is leading a task force to figure out how to tackle this in flex of the drug. But deputy thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Just this week federal agencies 100 pounds of fentanyl and Lemon Grove. Why is this drug so dangerous? It is dangerous because it is so potent. If you were to take a tiny green that's enough to get you high. A couple of grains is enough to kill you. So the very small amount of fentanyl can be deadly to people that are accidentally ingesting it or people that think better taking another drug and it can be dangerous for first responders. If they were to come across the seizure of drugs and think that they could treat it like cocaine nor methamphetamine or heroine and getting contact with it whether it is on their skin or breathing it, it could lead to a deadly overdose situation. The three people who died last month were found dead in a house. Do you think they knew what they were dealing with question mark It is difficult to say because there are many people that are taking pills or other types of drugs that believe they're taking heroin or cocaine when in fact they are taking a mixture of drugs including fentanyl. Many of the pills we are finding our mixture of many substances but because it is so profitable for these drug trafficking organizations to just put a small amount of fentanyl and make it more powerful, we are seeing that more and more. So many people are dying without even knowing that they ingested but no. The numbers are small but they are creeping up. Understand there was seven deaths related to fentanyl out of 250 unintended overdose deaths in San Diego county. But this year 23 people already have died. Would you call this an epidemic? I would call it an epidemic. The trend is a line straight up in the direction that this is going. We are seeing fentanyl becoming more and more common being caught at the border and being found at homes and be combined with other drugs like Aravind. People are dying -- heroine. People are dying at an alarming rate. Who was using it? You will find the same people that it been using other drugs for years heroine and cocaine are now using for no. The fentanyl is combined with those drugs. Sometimes they don't know they're taking fentanyl. They are wanting to get a drug that will get them high and being given pills and being told that they are an occipital or other things. There are those that are out looking for fentanyl because it can be so potent. No how expensive is it question at That no for the drug traffickers is quite cheap. -- That no for the drug traffickers is quite cheap. It is less expensive for the drug traffickers. The profit margins are very high. The people on the street are seeing about the same for a pill that has fentanyl Mason it. They just don't know exactly what they are getting. There is no quality controls. What kind of penalties are being put into place to discourage this market? We have very severe penalties that relate to mandatory minimum sentences for the importation and distribution of narcotic drugs. A different approach that the District Attorney's Office are starting to take his we are starting to attack this at the street level dealer. Before we may have treated a dealer that was dealing no as a low-level drug violation. Now we are charging those people that knowingly distribute no knowing that it is killing people with murder. So it is a very serious approach. We hope the word were spread to drug traffickers that they should know that when they are giving fentanyl to people and they are dying and we are going to charge of what what they're doing. The task force is only a few months old. What is the most support thing you are working on. We had a form we put 20/60 law enforcement officers here and we train them about the dangers for first responders, the use of Narcan to be able to save people's lives and how we can better go about preventing it from getting across the border and enforcing the laws once it is here. That form was extremely valuable. We have another working group coming up. To try to attack this problem. Thank you for helping us raise awareness. Thank you.

A long-term investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has led to one of the nation's largest seizures of fentanyl and a federal indictment against three alleged traffickers, federal prosecutors in San Diego announced Monday.

According to the indictment, Jonathan Ibarra, 45, Hector Fernando Garcia, 46, and Anna Baker, 30, are charged with possession of 44.14 kilograms of fentanyl with intent to distribute.

Most of the deadly synthetic opiate was seized from a house in Lemon Grove.

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RELATED: North County Crackdown Takes Out Major Heroin Supplier

According to a search warrant affidavit, the defendants discussed the transportation of a then-unidentified controlled substance.

Ibarra received instructions on Nov. 30, 2016, to have a female courier, later identified as Baker, transport the narcotics in three trips on consecutive days.

Based on that information, agents requested a traffic stop of Baker's rented vehicle and seized about 15 kilograms of a substance later determined to be fentanyl.

RELATED: How Opioid Addiction Caught San Diego Communities Unaware

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Law enforcement officers then obtained a search warrant for Baker's residence, where they found about 30 additional kilograms of the same substance.

According to authorities, drug traffickers use pure fentanyl powder to increase the potency of heroin or to manufacture counterfeit opioid painkillers that resemble oxycodone.

Due to fentanyl's extreme potency — up to 50 times stronger than heroin — deaths from fentanyl-laced heroin and counterfeit pills are epidemic in the United States, officials said.

Considering that just 3 milligrams is enough to kill an adult male, the 44.14 kilogram seizure represents more than 14 million lethal doses, officials said.

Deputy U.S. Attorney Mark Conover is leading a fentanyl task force in San Diego to figure out how to tackle the influx of a drug that is threatening even the safety of law enforcement officers who may come in contact with it.

"Fentanyl is particularly dangerous because it is so potent. If you were to take a tiny grain, similar to what you'd find in a grain of sand, that's enough to get you high and a couple of grains of fentanyl is enough to kill you," said Conover.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner announced this week that three people found dead at a duplex in Vista in May, died of an overdose of a combination of fentanyl and butyryl fentanyl.

Conover said it's hard to know if they knew what they were taking.

"There are many people now that are taking, whether its pills or other types of elicit drugs that believe they are taking heroin, believe they are taking cocaine when in fact they are taking a mixture of drugs including fentanyl," said Conover. "Because it's so profitable for these drug trafficking organizations to put a small amount of fentanyl and make it much more powerful we're seeing that more and more. So many people are dying without even knowing they ingested fentanyl."