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Late last year, U.S. Border Control Agents and Nueces County Criminal Interdiction Unit seized a record amount of liquid fentanyl during a routine traffic stop near Corpus Christi.It is the biggest liquid fentanyl bust to date. Truly, their efforts have saved countless lives.

During the bust, agents found an incredible 3 gallons of liquid fentanyl. To put that amount in perspective, Chief  Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez did the math for us:

A total of 25 pounds (three gallons) of fentanyl valued at $1.8M was located in a compartment within the gas tank. This lethal amount is enough to kill a population of 5.665 million people which is 2 1/2 times the size of Houston, Texas!

That's.. rather terrifying, actually. While this fentanyl was almost certainly destined to be added to other street drugs to make them cheaper to produce and more potent, imagine if it had been purposed for an act of terror. What if this had been put into a water or food supply? It's chilling.

Even if "just" intended for street drugs, this fentanyl could have easily led to many, many overdoses and deaths. Most drug overdose deaths are caused by synthetic opioids, almost always fentanyl, which users are not expecting in their cocaine, meth, heroin, counterfeit pills, etc.

Here are photos of the bust:

This is the type of diligence we need to combat fentanyl-related deaths. Fentanyl can be prescribed by responsible pain management doctors for patients with extreme pain. But fentanyl in street drugs is inherently impossible to "dose" in any responsible way. Doses as tiny, "as three grains of rice can be lethal."

Short of testing for fentanyl, it is almost impossible for street drug users to know what they are getting into. Currently, testing strips for fentanyl are illegal in Texas, but there are bipartisan efforts to change that law. 

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