More fentanyl being trafficked to the northwest on Interstate 5: 'We are seeing a trend'
More fentanyl is spreading across the Pacific Northwest region. A lot of it is coming up from the southern border on Interstate 5. Oregon State Police are making more seizures.
SALEM, Ore. – The fentanyl crisis is doing damage almost 1,000 miles from the southern border.
More fentanyl is making its way into the Pacific Northwest and law enforcement is pointing to Interstate 5 as the key. And it’s affecting more people.
Last July 23-year old Courage Minten was home in Oregon, finishing his training to be an airline pilot. After a night out with friends, he accidentally overdosed on his family’s couch and died in the hospital days later.
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He took a pill that he thought was oxycodone. Instead, it was a deadly dose of fentanyl.
Oregon State Police uses trained canines to sniff out fentanyl and other drugs. (Fox News)
"We don’t know why he took it," said Courage’s mother Kim Minten. "If he had a headache… he knew he’d be drug tested, with the new pilot job. We know he wouldn’t take fentanyl."
So far this year, Oregon State Police have already seized 24 kilograms of powdered fentanyl. That’s enough to kill at least 12 million people.
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"We are seeing a trend," said Oregon State Police Captain Kyle Kennedy. "It is increasing. And we are expecting our record-breaking interdiction stops to continue."
Oregon State Police have already seized enough powdered fentanyl this year to kill at least 12 million people. (Fox News)
State Police monitor the highways, looking to get their hands on fentanyl before it reaches dealers. When someone gets pulled over for suspicious activity, trained canines help search the vehicle for drugs.
"Our interdiction efforts, we see as an opportunity to collect large amounts of fentanyl before they make it to the population," Kennedy said.
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Minten didn’t know much about fentanyl before her son overdosed. She’s hoping to help educate other families about how dangerous fentanyl is.
When state police seize fentanyl, they keep it from making its way further up the interstate to major cities like Portland and Seattle. (Fox News)
"I just wanted to spread awareness," Minten said. "I just didn’t want other mothers to have to go through this… other families."
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