Border agents seize record amount of fentanyl in Arizona bust

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Customs and Border Protection reported on Thursday that it made a record bust of illegal fentanyl pills in Arizona last month.

Border agents seized approximately four million blue fentanyl pills weighing more than 1,000 pounds on July 1, setting a new CBP record for a single bust.

Authorities said a U.S. citizen, 20, arrived at Arizona's Port of Lukeville in a pickup truck hauling a sports recreational vehicle on a utility trailer from Mexico into the United States. During the inspection, agents noticed anomalies in the frame of the trailer and conducted more thorough inspection.

A canine team was brought in and officers discovered 234 packages of drugs concealed within the frame of the trailer.

"This is the largest fentanyl seizure in CBP's history and reflects our unwavering determination to protect our nation and to disrupt the criminal activities of ruthless drug cartels," Troy Miller, the senior official performing the duties of the commissioner, said in a statement.

"Every day, CBP officers and agents are on our frontline, using their keen instinct and the latest technology to prevent deadly drugs from entering our country and poisoning our communities."

CBP said on July 12 at the same port, agents seized about 260 pounds of methamphetamine. Similar to the July 1 incident, agents found 39 packages of the drug after a canine team alerted them to a portion of the pickup truck, driven by a 45-year-old Mexican national trying to enter the United States.

Authorities said the drugs had a street value of $12.6 million.

The announcement of the record-setting fentanyl seizure comes a day after the White House announced a new effort to curtail the flow of illegal fentanyl and other narcotics into the country.

Border agents said last week that more than 80 pounds of brightly colored purple fentanyl powder was seized from two vehicles during attempts to get into the Mexican border.