PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department arrested a 20-year-old woman Wednesday after finding 166,000 suspected fentanyl pills in a spare tire, authorities said.
Police said officers were working on an illegal drug investigation near 27th Avenue and Bethany Home Road when they discovered the pills.
Authorities said Alexa Magana was taken into custody and booked for possession and transportation of narcotic drugs.
In January of this year, Arizona's two poison centers reported a significant increase in overdoses related to illicit fentanyl tablets and warned the public to stay away from counterfeit pills.
“Fentanyl is the most common adulterant (substance) in almost all street drugs in our community right now, and even in very small amounts can be fatal,” said Dr. Daniel Brooks, medical director of the Banner Poison and Drug Information Center.
Between May 2020 and April 2021, nearly 100,300 people across the country died from a drug overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC report details that overdose deaths jumped 28.5% in Arizona during the same time frame and have nearly doubled over the past five years.
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