YAVAPAI COUNTY, Ariz. — A traffic stop and a drug K-9 led Yavapai County deputies to a large number of drugs they say are worth up to $150 million.
YCSO said a deputy noticed a truck driving recklessly along I-17 near Cordes Junction on Thursday and stopped him.
The deputy had a K-9 trained in detecting drugs in his patrol car that alerted authorities to 22 pounds of powdered fentanyl wrapped in several packages, according to YCSO.
The accused driver, 21-year-old Daniel Antonio Guzman Perez, was arrested and faces multiple drug-related charges.
“We estimate that this seizure could make between five to 10 million fentanyl pills,” Sheriff David Rhodes said. “This is the second time in less than a month that our K-9 unit has seized powdered fentanyl of this magnitude, which is extremely rare.”
The US Drug Enforcement Administration declared opioids as Yavapai County’s top drug threat earlier this year.
The drug has been blamed for the deaths of four Yavapai County teenagers in 2020, and DEA agents said 50 people in the area died from fentanyl in the last five years.
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