Pocatello police and narcotics investigators arrested two suspects on Saturday upon finding them in possession of fentanyl pills worth about $30,000.
As part of an investigation, police officers and B.A.D.G.E.S., a local multi-agency anti-drug task force, conducted a traffic stop on I-15. A search of the vehicle produced over 2,000 fentanyl pills hidden inside candy boxes.
“The Pocatello Police Department and all our officers are dedicated to getting crime and drugs off our streets. We take pride in what we do and are committed to our community,” said Pocatello Police Chief Roger Shei in a press release.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Doctors can prescribe it as a pain reliever, but authorities are concerned about its increasing presence in the illicit drug market.
Overdose deaths from the opioid doubled between 2020 and 2021 in Idaho. In 2022, half of the state’s 358 overdose deaths were from the fentanyl.
Dealers are increasingly replacing or lacing other drugs with fentanyl because of its high potency and low cost.
Idaho Governor Brad Little marked National Fentanyl Awareness Day at an event at Kuna High School on Monday where he was joined by a mother whose son died from fentanyl after he took what he believed was OxyContin.
Little made fentanyl one of his top priorities during the last legislative session and launched a campaign titled Fentanyl Takes All. He faced criticism, however, for signing a bill into law that restricted access to naloxone kits to first responders.
Little announced on Monday that he would join Idaho State Police in two weeks at the United States-Mexico border in Texas to assist in the ongoing migrant surge that comes as COVID-19 era immigration restrictions ending Thursday.