Massive fentanyl bust highlights the opioid’s fast-growing threat in Orange County, authorities say

A large seizure of fentanyl by sheriff’s deputies this week yielded almost half the amount of the deadly opioid snagged by authorities in Orange County during all of 2018 – a sign the drug is quickly growing into a substantial threat to the public, officials said.

Investigators confiscated about 18 pounds of fentanyl on Wednesday, Oct. 16, with a street value of more than $1.25 million, along with a loaded semi-automatic handgun, five pounds of heroin, a half-pound of methamphetamine, and $71,000 in cash, Orange County sheriff’s officials said.

That is enough of the synthetic opioid to create four million lethal doses.

Investigators have declined so far to reveal where the drugs were discovered.

Deputies arrested Rudolph Garcia, 60, sheriff’s spokeswoman Carrie Braun said, during the operation that required a search warrant. He was booked on suspicion of possessing fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine for sale and of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was being held in lieu of $2 million bail.

According to the California Department of Public Health, deaths attributed to fentanyl have risen from 14 five years ago in Orange County to 93 in 2018.

“The threat this extremely potent drug poses to our community is increasing exponentially, not subsiding,” Sheriff Don Barnes said in a statement.

The deadly doses that took the lives of Angel pitcher Tyler Skaggs and musicians Mac Miller, Tom Petty and Prince included fentanyl.

Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the National Library of Medicine. Although highly addictive and potentially fatal in small doses, the drug can be prescribed to cancer patients experiencing chronic pain who have become resistant to weaker opioids.