NYC’s Biggest Fentanyl Bust Ever Yields Enough To Kill 32 Million People

September 19, 2017

Over the past few years, the biggest phenomenon to hit the drug market has been the introduction of fentanyl. The synthetic opioid is 50 times stronger than heroin and is oftentimes mixed with dope or cocaine to make packs stronger. Fentanyl is so strong that users are almost guaranteed to overdose on it. Two milligrams is enough to kill a user. Last year, there were 1,374 overdose deaths in New York City. That’s the most there’s ever been.

NYC is considered a regional hub of distribution for the drug for the entire northeast. However, recently, the authorities in NYC announced the largest fentanyl bust in the city’s history. It was reportedly enough to provide 32 million deadly doses.

On August 1, a search of a home in Kew Gardens led to the seizure of 64 kilos of fentanyl, found in four suitcases and a purse. Additionally, 22 more kilos were found mixed into five kilos of heroin and six kilos of cocaine. In total, 97 packages of drugs were found in colored plastic wrap and tape. The cops were led to the apartment after seeing Rogelio Alvarado-Robles and Blanca Flores-Solis collect a shopping bag full of drugs from a man in the parking lot of a Walmart in Manahawkin, NJ. The two have been charged with multiple counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

It didn’t end there. According to Patch:

A few weeks later, another 25 kilograms of fentanyl was found in The Bronx after investigators watched a suspected drug exchange outside a Home Depot in Woodbridge, NJ, and followed a car from there back into the city, Brennan said.

Agents stopped the car at W. 161st St at the Major Deegan Expressway on Sept. 5 and found a duffle bag that held 25 brick-shaped blocks of the drug, Brennan said. Edwin Guzman and Manuel Rivera-Santana were charged with conspiracy and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

“This seizure goes down in history as a milestone in the ongoing fight against fentanyl,” said NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill.

Read more about fentanyl here.

Ryan K. Smith

Ryan K. Smith is digital content editor for Don Diva Magazine. Earning a bachelors degree from Penn State University (by way of Howard University), Ryan has pursued a career in journalism, published by Complex Magazine, Ebony Magazine, Philadelphia Weekly and The Chester Spirit Newspaper. He is also a self-published author. He sells the most awesome tee shirts on Earth at meweforus.spreadshirt.com.