(The Center Square) – California Attorney General Rob Bonta has announced a major fentanyl arrest.
Speaking at a press conference Thursday in Los Angeles, Bonta said the bust occurred in Arcadia, a city just northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Seventeen kilograms of powdered fentanyl were seized. Bonta estimated the street value of the drug as $1.3 million.
“The volume is also very important,” said the Democratic attorney general. “It’s equivalent to about 8.5 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl.”
To put that in perspective, Bonta said the number means almost enough fentanyl for one deadly dose per every person in Los Angeles County. The county has a population of approximately 9.7 million people, according to the U.S. Census.
The person arrested was “transporting narcotics that originated in Mexico,” Bonta said. Authorities also seized one kilogram of cocaine and a handgun.
Bonta did not identify the suspect during the press conference.
“The charges in this case include possession for sale of a controlled substance, transportation of a controlled substance for the purpose of sale, and possession of a controlled substance while armed,” said Bonta.
Since April 2022, the California Department of Justice has seized more than 17 million fentanyl pills, 7,000 pounds of powder and made over 600 arrests related to fentanyl.
In 2023, the California DOJ developed the Fentanyl Enforcement Program in response to what it viewed as an “emerging California fentanyl epidemic.”
Today, the Fentanyl Enforcement Program has teams in San Diego, Los Angeles and Dublin in the East Bay region by San Francisco. The purpose is to identify and dismantle fentanyl distribution organizations throughout the state.
“Fentanyl trafficking is increasingly sophisticated and deeply tied to transnational criminal organizations, which is another important reason why our partnerships matter,” said Bonta. “The collaboration between local, state and federal law enforcement agencies is critical to disrupting these supply chains before these deadly drugs reach our neighborhoods.”
Bonta, who has sued the Trump administration dozens of times now for various reasons, emphasized that federal law enforcement has worked with local and state agencies. Bonta described their ongoing partnerships as alive and well, thriving and strong. That, said Bonta, is what Californians would want.
“To those distributing illicit fentanyl throughout our communities, and in the process, inflicting pain, inflicting suffering, and inflicting death on Californians, we’re coming for you. And we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” said Bonta, who is seeking reelection this year.
