Police Recover $500,000 of Fentanyl Concealed in Carne Asada Beef During a California Traffic Stop

This month, California officials confiscated over $1.7 million in fentanyl after two traffic stops, one of which had the illegal substance concealed in raw meat.

The first stop happened Oct. 3 on Interstate 5 in Fresno County, where the California Highway Patrol discovered 11 pounds of fentanyl worth around $500,000. The substance was discovered in many packages of raw carne asada meat stored in a cooler, according to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.

According to a news statement from the governor’s office, officers detained the Washington suspect and placed him into the Fresno County Jail.

The next day, patrol officers recovered approximately 120,000 fentanyl-laced tablets valued at $1.2 million during a Merced County traffic stop on Interstate 5, according to the governor’s office. Officers also discovered two firearms and arrested two Washington residents on various felony charges.

“Throughout the state, California continues to work hard to keep harmful and illicit drugs off the streets. “I am proud of our CHP officers’ efforts to keep our community safe and hold drug peddlers accountable,” Newsom stated in the news release.

The governor’s administration asserts that since June, California has been able to crack down on fentanyl trafficking by adding around 250 additional service members at state entry ports.

More Americans knew someone who died of a drug overdose

According to a survey released earlier this year, more than 40% of American adults knew someone who died as a result of an overdose.

The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit think tank, reported that roughly one-third of survey respondents indicated a drug overdose death had disturbed their life, but little is known about the impact of these fatalities on extended families.

Fatal overdoses have been on the rise since 2000. At least 109,000 deaths in the United States were reported in 2022, up from 100,000 in 2021. Most of the overdoses were caused by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

According to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overdose deaths through September 2023 increased by around 2% compared to 2022.

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