Arizona woman arrested for hauling $2.6 million of suspected fentanyl-laced pills into Colorado

A 20-year-old woman from Arizona was recently arrested on Colorado's Western Slope after 60 pounds of pills were found inside her car during a traffic stop.

Police believe the pills are counterfeit Oxycontin and probably contain fentanyl. According to the Garfield County Sheriff's Office, the estimated 222,360 pills, weighing 59.64 pounds collectively, are worth $2,668,320 on the street.

Leslie Lopez-Rojas and two accomplices were arrested.

The Garfield County Sheriff's Office did not identify the accomplices and has not stated when the traffic stop happened. But Lopez-Rojas was advised Thursday of several charges filed against her, including importing a schedule II controlled substance into the state, a class 1 drug felony.

A judge set Lopez-Rojas's bond at $1 million cash.

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In a press release, the sheriff's office credited its deputies, along with investigators with the Garfield County SPEAR (Special Problem Enforcement and Response) Task Force, with pulling over the car on Interstate 70 near Parachute and discovering the contraband.

No details were provided about the traffic laws that were allegedly violated by Lopez-Rojas's vehicle which prompted the stop.

Nor were details about the length of time needed to determine if the blue M-30 pills actually contain fentanyl.

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The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency seized a record 79.5 million fentanyl pills in 2023. Laboratory testing indicated 7 out of every 10 pills seized by the DEA contain a lethal dose of fentanyl, per the agency's website.

Garfield authorities are continuing to investigate Lopez-Rojas's illicit activity.

DEA has seized a record 79.5 million fentanyl pills to date in 2023, which already exceeds last year's totals of 58 million pills.