Tempe Police Interim Chief Josie Montenegro, Phoenix DEA Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz and questionably elected Arizona Attorney General Chris Mayes held a joint press conference Thursday to discuss the massive drug bust in the Phoenix area, including four and a half million fentanyl pills. and 140 pounds of fentanyl powder.
These dangerous drugs come primarily from criminal illegal drug traffickers with the Sinaloa Cartel, says Cheri Oz.
It is not clear how many drugs have been seized so far in 2023. “These seizures occurred over a three-year period and the investigations originated from the city of Tempe. Most of our seizures occurred locally. But, all of the seizures you see occurred in the state of Arizona,” said Interim Chief Josie Montenegro.
Montenegro continued, “The pattern you see here today is staggering. There were more than four and a half million fentanyl pills, more than 140 pounds of fentanyl powder, more than 135 kilos of cocaine, more than 3000 pounds of methamphetamines, 35 kilos of heroin, 49 firearms and more than 2 million in cash.
“To date, the monetary value of all drugs seized is over $13 million.”
Tempe is not the only community seeing the devastating effects of this crisis. Only in 2022, the DEA took over More than 50.6 million fatal fentanyl-laced, counterfeit prescription pills and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, half of which came from Arizona. According to the DEA, that’s enough to kill 379 million people.
Gateway Pundit reported last September that more than a million fentanyl pills were seized from a home in Avondale, Arizona, in what police called “the single largest fentanyl seizure in Phoenix police history.”
“Last year nationwide, we lost 107,622 lives from drug poisoning with fentanyl as the primary drug,” said Phoenix DEA Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz. “Drug cartels are putting fentanyl in all their illegal drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and fake pills that they disguise to look like legal pills. It’s a trick. It’s a fraud. It’s death.”
“The fentanyl in this room has over 30 million lethal doses, potentially,” he said.
Fentanyl is extremely dangerous and is currently the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45.
“In 27 years in law enforcement, I have never seen a drug as dangerous and deadly as fentanyl,” Oz said.
“I want to be crystal clear,” Oz said, “that the drugs that flood Arizona every day are primarily sourced from an evil entity called the Sinaloa Drug Cartel.”
“The Sinaloa drug cartel is evil, and they are motivated by greed. They are recklessly endangering our communities, taking lives every day,” he said.
Oz concluded his presentation by saying, “This is literally a matter of life and death.”
Chris Mayes called this seizure “The latest A large-scale interagency narcotics investigation in the Valley.”
However, during his speech, Mayes failed to mention that this investigation was ongoing Over three years. It was just political theater before the crooked Katie Hobbs and Chris Mayes administrations opened the southern border further and gave cartels free rein.
Fake News Arizona Central reported, “Also, Mayes called the Sinaloa drug cartel by name, calling them ‘evil’.” But, Mayes didn’t call out cartels or call them “evil.” In fact, she didn’t mention the cartels until she was asked about them at a later press gaggle.
When asked if she was open to using Arizona’s sovereign authority to secure the border, Mayes told The Gateway Pundit reporter Jordan Conradson, “That’s a federal issue, and I’m not going to address it right now.”
Watch yesterday’s press conference below.
