A North Carolina woman was arrested on May 25 with two kilograms of fentanyl, enough to kill one million people. 24-year-old Karen Garcia Euceda from Winston-Salem was stopped by the officers in the area of Club Boulevard and Watts Street in Durham, North Carolina on Tuesday. She was arrested after two kg of synthetic opioid fentanyl was found in her car. Karen’s 4-year-old daughter was also in the vehicle and has been now placed in the custody of a family member.
As per Fox 6 Now news report, she was stopped as part of an ongoing investigation. Karen has been charged with two counts of trafficking and misdemeanour child abuse and is held on a $1,00,000 secured bond at the Durham County Detention Center.
The Drug Enforcement Administration website states Fentanyl -used to treat chronic severe pain -is similar to morphine but about 100 times more potent. Patients are prescribed fentanyl by a licensed medical professional but should be monitored for misuse or abuse. The amount of the drug Karen possessed is enough to kill 1 million people as one kilogram has the potential to kill 500,000 people.
It is mixed with other illegal drugs to increase potency and sold in the form of nasal sprays or powder, reads the website. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports claims that opioids are the main contributors to overdose deaths in the US with more than 72% of opioid-involved overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids.
In a major drug sweep, an investigation started in 2019 was able to take 17 kilograms of fentanyl off the streets. A total of 11 people- seven from Cincinnati, Ohio, US -were arrested by the police officers who seized more than 17 guns and over a million dollars of alleged drug money along with the fentanyl. The final arrest was made on May 28, Friday and all arrested have been charged with possession and distribution of controlled substances.
A news report by ABC suggests that Customs and Border Protection have seized more fentanyl till now in 2021 than they did in entire 2020.
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