BATON ROUGE, La. — Baton Rouge Police Department says the state is now safer after what they're calling "a huge arrest". This week they seized about 181 pounds of fentanyl. They say it's the largest fentanyl bust in the state's history.
According to the DEA's website that's enough fentanyl to kill tens of millions of people. Baton Rouge Police say during the seizure they also found other drugs like heroin, Xanax, and more.
About a week ago they seized about five pounds of fentanyl. Baton Rouge Police say both seizures are linked to one man – Cendy Sammy Keophimanh.
"We know that he was a large distributor for this area and when I say this area I’m not just talking about Louisiana but also the neighboring states all the way to Atlanta, Georgia" said Baton Rouge Lieutenant L'Jean McKneely.
"We’ve been in contact with other agencies, they know of this individual they know that he’s been a big distributor of fentanyl and other drugs," he said.
McKneely hopes it's one more step forward in taking the dangerous drug off the street. He says it's a big undertaking and hopes while they work on the mission, the community stays alert.
"The fentanyl crisis that we’re having not only in Baton Rouge, in this state but across the country, it’s huge. We have a situation where there are a number of overdoses we have a situation where people are losing their lives," McKneely said.
"It’s a huge task we’re undergoing in attempt to share the word on how dangerous fentanyl really is and that these dealers are putting fentanyl in everything from marijuana to pressed pills they’re making at home."
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