Nearly 500,000 Lethal Doses Of Fentanyl Found At Murrieta Address

MURRIETA, CA — Enough fentanyl to kill nearly a half-million people has been found in Murrieta, but law enforcement is releasing few details about the investigation.

Around 11 a.m. Wednesday, members of the Murrieta-Temecula Regional Gang Task Force did a parole search "at an address in Murrieta related to an ongoing gang-related investigation," according to the sheriff's department.

During the search, officers found just under 2 pounds of powdered fentanyl. Two pounds contains nearly 1 million milligrams — it takes just 2 milligrams of fentanyl to kill a human, according to law enforcement.

The fentanyl found Wednesday has a street value of just $25,000, according to the sheriff's department. The raw product is cheap, which is why drug dealers use it to make counterfeit pills that are marketed as oxycodone, Percocet, Xanax, and others. Unsuspecting buyers believe they are buying prescription meds — albeit unlawfully obtained — but in reality, they are purchasing fake pills made with cheap filler and laced with fentanyl, according to law enforcement. Fentanyl is also cut into other narcotics, like methamphetamine.

No arrests were announced in Wednesday's bust, but the sheriff's department said, "charges are pending."

According to Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin, the county is on track to have 500 to 600 fentanyl-related deaths in 2021. Earlier this year, the DA and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department announced they would begin investigating fentanyl deaths as homicides and pursue murder charges when possible.

Victims are "poisoned" to death by counterfeit medication that's sold by dealers who know the danger, yet intentionally deceive buyers, prosecutors argue. Several Riverside County cases have resulted in filed murder charges. Read more here:

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