New York authorities reported this Wednesday a seizure of $5 million worth of fentanyl hidden in a car’s fuel tank. and that it follows a new “pattern” of drug trafficking seen in recent months in the United States.

City Narcotics Special Counsel found 300,000 “fake” tablets of oxycodone, an opioid pain reliever containing fentanyl, According to the statement, this is another opioid that is dozens of times stronger than heroin and morphine, as well as five kilograms of powder of the same drug.

Fentanyl, which is at the center of the country’s drug epidemic and has caused thousands of overdose deaths in recent years, It was vacuum-packed and immersed in fuel in the tank, which could be accessed from the floor at the rear of the car.

The statement notes that the case “is consistent with a pattern of human trafficking seen in recent months” in which residents outside of New York bring large amounts of fentanyl in pills and powders “worth millions of dollars” in vehicles with license plates. states.

The find took place in the Bronx area, just after the drug enforcement agents conducting the raid stopped the driver of a Ford Expedition with Texas license plates and trained local police dogs found drugs there.

Agents found photographs of stacks of money and a driveway to a fuel tank while checking the mobile phone of driver Enrique Pérez, an Ohio resident who was arrested and charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

Prosecutors believe the seized fentanyl “originated” in Mexico. as the investigation found that the vehicle had “repeatedly” crossed the US border.

Narcotics Attorney Bridget Brennan called the drug discovery “alarming” in a busy shopping area near the Bronx County Courthouse and during a “record overdose rate” in the city.

For DEA Special Agent Frank Tarentino III, the “incredible location” seizure demonstrates one of the ways the cartels bring fentanyl from Mexico into the US for distribution in big cities.

(EFE)