A 74-year-old man from Mexico was arrested on Interstate 5 near San Clemente after authorities found 85 pounds of possibly counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Monday.
On May 8, Deputy Ochoa from the Highway Interdiction Team pulled the driver over on the freeway near the San Clemente and San Diego County border for missing a front license plate. Ochoa alleged that the driver seemed nervous and later admitted to having narcotics in the trunk of his car.
A total of 390,000 pills blue M30 pills were found inside a trash bag hidden in the driver’s trunk, officials said.
While real M30 pills contain oxycodone, authorities believe the drugs were likely counterfeit and contained fentanyl instead. The toxicology reports are still pending, Sgt. Matt Parrish said.
The 74-year-old driver was arrested on suspicion of sales and transportation of a controlled substance, with an enhancement of 15 years if found guilty, if the drugs exceed 20 kilograms by weight.
Formed in 2008, the Highway Interdiction Team focuses primarily on the 5 Freeway, with the goal of disrupting one of the main avenues used by drug trafficking organizations to smuggle narcotics into Orange County.
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