Invasion USA Operations Plan
Ohio officials seize 40 pounds of fentanyl, an amount close to ‘chemical warfare’
A drug task force in Ohio seized more than 40 pounds of fentanyl — an amount akin to “chemical warfare” that could kill every person in the state, authorities said.
The suspected fentanyl — a powerful, synthetic opioid that’s up to 100 times more potent than morphine — was seized last late month along with 3 pounds of methamphetamine, a pound of heroin, three guns and more than $30,000 in cash, Ohio’s Regional Agencies Narcotics & Gun Enforcement Task Force announced Tuesday.
“The quantity of fentanyl in this case amounts to chemical warfare and a weapon of mass destruction,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said. “I applaud the work of our task force and our law enforcement partners — this is an enormous amount of deadly drugs that will no longer be on our streets.”
Vance Callender, Homeland Security Investigations’ special agent in charge for Michigan and Ohio, said the seized fentanyl alone is “enough to kill the entire population” of the Buckeye State — roughly 11.69 million people as of last year — many times over.
Three men from Dayton were charged in the investigation and are facing charges including possession with intent to distribute 400 or more grams of fentanyl and possession of a firearm as a felon, authorities said.
The suspects were identified as Shamar Davis, 31, Anthony Franklin, 30, and Grady Jackson, 37.
“These illegal drugs ruin lives, destroy families, fuels violence, drives up property crime, and wrecks neighborhoods,” Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said. “Anyone associated with it — especially those who sell and traffic it — are doing violence to people and causing harm in our communities.”
Fentanyl is often mixed with heroin or cocaine without the user’s knowledge, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But a government report released last month found that meth is actually the bigger killer, despite fentanyl driving up drug overdoses in the United States overall. In 2017, meth was the drug most frequently involved in deaths in 19 states west of the Mississippi, according to the data.
