TOPEKA — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Kansas Highway Patrol seized thousands of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl in the first large haul of a state team designed to combat the flow of the synthetic drug.
The Joint Fentanyl Impact Team, a collaboration between the two state organizations, announced Wednesday that a Monday investigation in Wichita unearthed about 25,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills.
“Pills containing fentanyl, like those taken off the streets this week, are causing extreme harm to our communities,” said KBI Director Tony Mattivi. “This seizure will likely prevent many poisoning deaths, but we still have much work to do.”
A 27-year-old Wichita man was detained and questioned on possession of the 11.5 pounds of pills. He was arrested on outstanding warrants and booked into Sedgwick County Jail, with fentanyl-related charges pending, officials said.
The task force, formed in June, is a part of Attorney General Kris Kobach’s plan to stop fentanyl. Shutting down fentanyl distribution was part of Kobach’s campaign last year when he won election as attorney general, in part by tying the issue of fentanyl trafficking to southern border security.
Kobach, who is known for hardline anti-immigration stances, has said he would focus on stopping drug cartels from bringing fentanyl across the southern border. A false narrative that migrants are smuggling fentanyl in through an “open border” has become increasingly prevalent, especially in the Republican Party, but research from National Public Radio found the vast majority of fentanyl is actually smuggled into the country through official ports of entry, concealed in cars and tractor-trailers.
KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood said fentanyl is mainly trafficked into the U.S. through Mexico, with cartels responsible for a majority of the product.
