Featured Image Credit: NBC News
US police have seized a record haul of Adderall pills laced with meth, with one attorney calling the bust the ‘single largest seizure of fake Adderall pills in the United States’.
Agents confirmed on Monday (19 September) that around 660,500 counterfeit pills had been seized - a haul that weighed a whopping 660 pounds.
Federal drug agents launched an undercover operation in March that led to the bust. A confidential source arranged to pick up 10,000 bright orange pills mixed with methamphetamine powder while law enforcement officials secretly watched on.
Reporting on the news, USA Today said that in the days after the deal was agreed, the home of 27-year-old Dylan Rodas was searched by federal authorities, as was another location.
Court documents say a pill mill of ‘staggering’ proportions was found in the basement and Mexican cartel ties are suspected.
Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha on Monday confirmed: “We believe this to be the single largest seizure of fake Adderall pills in the United States.”
Cunha added that the haul is ‘among the largest seizures of methamphetamine in New England history’.
Meanwhile, Rodas has been held since 28 March and has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges, although the case’s investigation is still ongoing.
USA Today notes that the charge of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine - which is highly addictive - carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.
Cunha continued: “The prosecution we announce today, which involves the seizure of what I can only term industrial-scale quantities of meth, is a stark reminder that we cannot be complacent.”
“We cannot treat meth as a problem that happens elsewhere.”
Brian Boyle, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England field division, said that the pills were likely distributed ‘throughout New England’.
He added: “This could even be outside New England with this quantity that we’re seeing here.”
When asked whether or not Rodas had been working with the Mexican cartel, Boyle said: “The Mexican cartels are producing meth and fentanyl in record amounts down in these jungles and laboratories ... and they’re flooding the US market, so this meth came out of Mexico.”
According to court documents, Rodas’ pill-making operation was run out of his father and stepmother’s basement home.
Rodas’ parents told law enforcement officials that they were unaware of Rodas’ operation, insisting he always kept the door locked.
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