Oct. 15 (UPI) — Sheriff’s deputies in North Carolina say they have seized 5 pounds of fentanyl in a record-setting drug bust carried out during a raid in the state’s mountainous western region.
Law enforcement agencies completed a months-long investigation that resulted in the seizure of multiple types of narcotics, including fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin, according to a post by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office on Friday.
It was the largest seizure of fentanyl in the county’s history.
The narcotics were found in raids at three addresses on Wednesday.
Shabazz Tucker, 29, Sequoyah Burt, 24, Sophia Ridener, 37, Terry Graham Jr., and Keiana Webber were arrested and face a total of 59 charges related to drug trafficking.
“According to the DEA, a two milligram dose of Fentanyl could be lethal,” the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook. “This seizure of 5.03 pounds of Fentanyl equates to 1,141,200 lethal doses have now been removed from our community.”
More than 31 grams of cocaine, 2 pounds of black tar heroin and 1.47 pounds of methamphetamine were also seized, as well as a semi-automatic handgun.
Multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in the execution of search warrants at the three addresses, including the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, North Carolina Probation and Patrol, the Asheville, N.C., Police Department and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.