Seattle police seize 2,700 pills laced with fentanyl in December drug raid

Seattle Police Department narcotics detectives seized a sizable cache of illegal drugs and weapons as part of several warrants, including thousands of pills laced with fentanyl.

SPD busts North Seattle trafficking ring, seizes drugs, guns, and cash

Detectives serving a warrant in North Seattle on Dec. 12 seized 2,700 counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, 215 grams of heroin, 270 grams of fentanyl, two handguns, and a manual pill press.

Just over two weeks later, a 36-year-old Seattle man was arrested in conjunction with that investigation, thought by police to be an “upper-echelon drug dealer.” A handful of other warrants were also served on “several residences, workplaces, and other properties” associated with what authorities suspect is an organized drug operation.

“This is fantastic work by our Narcotics detectives and North Precinct Anti-Crime Team officers,” said Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best. “We still have much work to do, but the sheer size and scope of this investigation will make a difference in our community.”

Serving those subsequent warrants, detectives and North Precinct Anti-Crime Team officers seized 7 kilograms of methamphetamine, 4 kilos of heroin, cocaine, over 200 grams of fake oxycodone pills, and almost $2,500 in cash.

Fentanyl is often found in counterfeit pills made to look like prescription opiates like oxycodone. The risk comes from the fact that fentanyl is anywhere from 30 to 50 times as strong as pure heroin.

Addiction and human trafficking are driving the Seattle drug war

“A dose the size of a few grains of salt can be fatal to an average-size person,” according to Caleb Banta-Green, the principle research scientist at UW’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute.

This has fueled a recent spike in overdose deaths across King County. Between mid-June and September 2019 there were 141 drug overdose deaths, compared to 109 overdose deaths over the same period in 2018, according to Seattle & King County Public Health.

SPD Narcotics detectives and North Precinct Anti-Crime Team officers arrested an upper-echelon drug dealer on #NewYearsEve2020, sezing guns, fentanyl, and several kilos of heroin and methamphetamine. https://t.co/9NGOESRLjk pic.twitter.com/6GdjW6XvhC

— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) January 3, 2020

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