by Jennie Taer

 

Border authorities encountered a new form of rainbow fentanyl that smugglers attempted to bring into the U.S., Nogales Port Director Michael W. Humphries said in a tweet Tuesday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sunday seized around 413,000 fentanyl pills, 44,000 of which “had the rainbow colors combined in each pill.” Humphries said the new version of the pills was “not encountered before” as the area continues to see seizures of the new type of candy-colored drug.

Nogales is an area of Arizona that is across from Sinaloa drug cartel territory in Mexico. Sunday’s seizure also included 7.4 pounds of fentanyl powder and 14.4 pounds of heroin, Humphries said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently warned that drug cartels are using rainbow fentanyl to market to younger customers, according to a statement the agency shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in the statement.

For months, the port in Nogales has seen several smuggling attempts of rainbow fentanyl. Authorities in several states, including WashingtonOregonAlaska and West Virginia have also encountered rainbow fentanyl.

– – –

Jennie Taer is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. 

 

 

 


Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].