Los Angeles, July 14. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced Thursday the seizure in Los Angeles of nearly one million counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, the largest seizure of that drug in California.
The drug was found after a raid on July 5 at a house in Inglewood, a city in Los Angeles County near Los Angeles International Airport.
Investigators believe the location was a hideout used by a trafficking organization linked to the Sinaloa cartel, the DEA said in a statement.
The pills, which are worth between $15 million and $20 million, appeared to be prescription drugs such as oxycodone. They had the same design, color, shape and size as the legal medicines.
In this regard, DEA special agent Bill Bodner said in a statement that “misleading marketing coupled with ease of access makes these small and seemingly innocuous pills a significant threat to the health and safety of all our communities.”
The DEA investigation in conjunction with the Hawthorne Police Department, a city adjacent to Inglewood, began last May when agents identified several people known to transport small amounts of drugs arriving at the hideout. EFE
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