DOUGLAS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities, as part of a traffic stop in western Douglas County recovered more than 1,000 suspected fentanyl pills, 2.5 pounds of methamphetamine and a suspected stolen firearm, according to sheriff's department spokesperson George Diepenbrock.
The arrest and subsequent investigation led to a search warrant being served in Shawnee County where the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office recovered additional methamphetamine and suspected fentanyl pills.
“The arrest and recovery of about 1,000 pills headed for Lawrence and marked with an M match the description of pills that are dressed up to look like legitimate Oxycodone pills, though they are laced with fentanyl,” Sheriff Jay Armbrister said.
“These pills are sold to kids and community members as something they are not, in order to get people addicted – deadly consequences aside. Cases like this show why it’s critical for law enforcement to disrupt the supply of these dangerous substances, while also educating our community and especially our youth about the dangers of taking what appears to be a legitimate prescription pill when something much more sinister and fatal lurks just beneath its surface.”
Armbrister added: “In addressing the opioid crisis, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is committed not only to education and enforcement but we will continue to advocate for policy-level changes like making and keeping Fentanyl testing supplies and Narcan legal and available to our community members.”
A DGSO deputy stopped an eastbound gray Chevrolet Tahoe for a traffic infraction just before 5 p.m. Wednesday on U.S. Highway 40 near the Shawnee County line. The DGSO K-9 unit was deployed and alerted to the presence of narcotics.
After searching the vehicle, deputies recovered 2.5 pounds of suspected methamphetamine and 1,002 suspected pressed fentanyl pills, the handgun and other property.
Deputies have sent the suspected narcotics to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation for formal identification and analysis.
The driver of the vehicle in Douglas County, a 32-year-old Topeka man, was arrested and booked into the Douglas County Correctional Facility on requested charges of two counts of felony drug distribution and one count of possession of stolen property related to the recovered handgun.