LOS ANGELES, CA - Police with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) made a major drug bust, seizing enough fentanyl to potentially kill the entire population of the city.
According to Fox News, the drug bust happened thanks to a narcotics investigation near downtown Los Angeles that involved multiple LAPD divisions. From the incident, police arrested 28-year-old Jose Alberto Soto and have charged him with sales of fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid.
The initial investigation led to police executing a search warrant in the 7500 block of Central Avenue in South Los Angeles. Upon executing the warrant, police found more than 50 pounds of powdered fentanyl and nearly nine pounds of black tar heroin, plus $14,500 in U.S. currency.
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the amount equates to around $4 million in street value. Authorities said that two milligrams is enough for a potentially lethal dose. Keeping that number in mind, the amount of fentanyl seized during the drug bust was enough to potentially kill more than 11 million people, nearly three times the population of Los Angeles.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid up to 50 time stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. While it can be used for legitimate purposes to help trauma victims being treated in hospitals, illicit use has proliferated in the last decade. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that there were nearly 75,000 overdose deaths from fentanyl in 2023 and that more than 150 people die every day from overdoses related to drugs like fentanyl.
Online jail records show that Soto remains in custody without bail. The case remains an active investigation. In a separate incident, officers with the Norwich Police Department (NPD) seized large quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and other drugs after a man tried to flee a traffic stop on Monday, October 14th.
Members of the Connecticut State Police Violent Crime Task Force and the NPD's Detective and Patrol divisions were conducting an investigation into narcotic activity when they attempted to stop a vehicle in the Occum section of Norwich. NPD Lt. Kyle Besse said that the man, however, drove away from the stop and fled the area.
A short time later, police found the same car and the suspect near the Franklin/Norwich town line. The man, identified as Javon Morse, fled again and while trying to escape, threw items out of the vehicle's windows.
When his vehicle became disabled, Besse said that police took Morse into custody. During an investigation of the vehicle, police seized large quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, Suboxone, and marijuana. Officers also found three semi-automatic handguns, a revolver, high-capacity magazines, several rounds of live ammunition, and a large sum of cash.
Morse, who is 29-years-old, has been charged with four counts of criminal possession of a firearm, one count of criminal possession of ammunition, three counts of possession of narcotics, three counts of possession of narcotics with the intent to sell, one count of operating a drug factory, two counts of possession of high-capacity magazines, two counts of tampering with evidence, two counts of disobeying the signal of an officer, and one count of failure to maintain lane.
He is now being held on a $250,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in State Superior Court in Norwich on November 5th.
According to Fox News, the drug bust happened thanks to a narcotics investigation near downtown Los Angeles that involved multiple LAPD divisions. From the incident, police arrested 28-year-old Jose Alberto Soto and have charged him with sales of fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid.
The initial investigation led to police executing a search warrant in the 7500 block of Central Avenue in South Los Angeles. Upon executing the warrant, police found more than 50 pounds of powdered fentanyl and nearly nine pounds of black tar heroin, plus $14,500 in U.S. currency.
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the amount equates to around $4 million in street value. Authorities said that two milligrams is enough for a potentially lethal dose. Keeping that number in mind, the amount of fentanyl seized during the drug bust was enough to potentially kill more than 11 million people, nearly three times the population of Los Angeles.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid up to 50 time stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. While it can be used for legitimate purposes to help trauma victims being treated in hospitals, illicit use has proliferated in the last decade. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that there were nearly 75,000 overdose deaths from fentanyl in 2023 and that more than 150 people die every day from overdoses related to drugs like fentanyl.
Online jail records show that Soto remains in custody without bail. The case remains an active investigation. In a separate incident, officers with the Norwich Police Department (NPD) seized large quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and other drugs after a man tried to flee a traffic stop on Monday, October 14th.
Members of the Connecticut State Police Violent Crime Task Force and the NPD's Detective and Patrol divisions were conducting an investigation into narcotic activity when they attempted to stop a vehicle in the Occum section of Norwich. NPD Lt. Kyle Besse said that the man, however, drove away from the stop and fled the area.
A short time later, police found the same car and the suspect near the Franklin/Norwich town line. The man, identified as Javon Morse, fled again and while trying to escape, threw items out of the vehicle's windows.
When his vehicle became disabled, Besse said that police took Morse into custody. During an investigation of the vehicle, police seized large quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, Suboxone, and marijuana. Officers also found three semi-automatic handguns, a revolver, high-capacity magazines, several rounds of live ammunition, and a large sum of cash.
Morse, who is 29-years-old, has been charged with four counts of criminal possession of a firearm, one count of criminal possession of ammunition, three counts of possession of narcotics, three counts of possession of narcotics with the intent to sell, one count of operating a drug factory, two counts of possession of high-capacity magazines, two counts of tampering with evidence, two counts of disobeying the signal of an officer, and one count of failure to maintain lane.
He is now being held on a $250,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in State Superior Court in Norwich on November 5th.
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