Sixteen people have been arrested and three million pills laced with fentanyl were seized in what federal prosecutors said Tuesday was the “largest fentanyl bust in DEA history.”
The operation, which spanned several states along in the West, “marks the most significant victory in our nation’s fight against fentanyl and drug trafficking to date,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
Among those arrested was a Sinaloa cartel leader, Heriberto Salazar Amaya, 36, a Mexican national, who was taken into custody in Salem, Oregon, Bondi said at a press conference. In February, the State Department designated the Sinaloa cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.
Asked whether any of those arrested would be deported to Mexico, Bondi said “I want them to stay in our prisons as long as possible.”
“Most of these individuals, if convicted, will remain in American prisons, perhaps Alcatraz,” the attorney general added in reference to the shuttered California prison that President Donald Trump said he wants to reopen.
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The Justice Department said law enforcement officials seized more than 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of fentanyl pills, 11.5 kilos of fentanyl powder, 80 kilos of methamphetamine, 7.5 kilos of cocaine and 4.5 kilos of heroin. The bust also netted $5 million in cash and 49 rifles and pistols, U.S. officials said, while releasing several images of the seized items.
“This case represents DEA’s largest single seizure of fentanyl pills,” said Robert Murphy, the acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Bondi said 75,000 Americans are dying each year because of fentanyl and it is the number one cause of death for people between the ages of 18 and 34 in the United States.
“They are flooding our cities with a weapon of mass destruction, fentanyl,” she said.
Ryan Ellison, U.S. attorney for the district of New Mexico, said the “sophisticated fentanyl and narcotics distribution network” spanned New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Utah.
Ellison said the 16 people arrested face various federal charges including conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and firearms offenses.
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The DEA says drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 44, though
most states have seen fewer deaths over the last few years. Between 2022 and 2023, overdose deaths decreased by 4% nationwide, marking the first such decline since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Overdose deaths fell 17% between July 2023 and July 2024.
