Tempe Police Interim Chief Josie Montenegro, Phoenix DEA Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz, and questionably elected Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes held a joint press conference Thursday to discuss the massive narcotic seizures in the Phoenix area, including over four and a half million fentanyl pills and over 140 pounds of fentanyl powder.
These dangerous drugs primarily come from criminal illegal drug traffickers with the Sinaloa Cartel, says Cheri Oz.
It is unclear how many narcotics were seized in 2023 to date. “These seizures have occurred over a period of time of just over three years, and the investigations stem from the city of Tempe. The majority of our seizures have occurred locally. But, all the seizures that you do see have occurred within the state of Arizona,” said Interim Chief Josie Montenegro.
Montenegro continued, “the sample you see here today is staggering. There are over four and a half million fentanyl pills, over 140 pounds of fentanyl powder, over 135 kilos of cocaine, over 3000 pounds of methamphetamines, 35 kilos of heroin, 49 firearms, and over 2 million in cash.”
“To date, the monetary value of all the drugs seized is over $13 million.”
Tempe is not the only community seeing the damning effects of this crisis. In 2022 alone, the DEA seized over 50.6 million deadly fentanyl-laced, fake prescription pills and over 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, half of which came from Arizona. According to the DEA, this is enough to kill over 379 million people.
The Gateway Pundit reported last September that more than one million fentanyl pills were seized from a home in Avondale, Arizona, in what police called the “single largest fentanyl seizure in Phoenix police history.”
“Last year nationwide, we lost 107,622 lives to drug poisonings with fentanyl being the primary drug,” said Phoenix DEA Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz. “The drug cartels are putting fentanyl in all of their illicit drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and fake pills, which they disguise to look legitimate, like pharmaceutical pills. It is trickery. It is deception. It is death.”
She added, “Fentanyl in this room alone contains over 30 million lethal doses, potentially.”
Fentanyl is highly dangerous and is currently the leading cause of death for Americans 18-45 years old.
“in 27 years in law enforcement, I’ve never seen a drug as dangerous and deadly as fentanyl,” Oz stated.
“I want to be crystal clear,” said Oz, “the drugs that are flooding Arizona every single day are sourced primarily by one evil entity, the Sinaloa Drug Cartel.”
“The Sinaloa Drug Cartel is evil, and they’re motivated by greed. They’re recklessly endangering our communities, taking lives every single day,” she added.
Oz concluded her presentation by saying, “this is literally a matter of life and death.”
Kris Mayes billed this seizure as a “recent large-scale interagency narcotics investigation in the Valley.”
However, during her speech, Mayes failed to mention that this investigation has been ongoing for over three years. This was likely just political theater meant to appeal to Arizonans before the fraudulent Katie Hobbs and Kris Mayes administrations further open the southern border and give free rein to the cartels.
Fake News Arizona Central reported, “In addition, Mayes called the Sinaloa Drug Cartel out by name, saying in part that they are ‘evil.’” But, Mayes did not call out the cartels or call them “evil.” In fact, she did not even mention the cartels until she was asked about them in a subsequent press gaggle.
When asked if she was open to using Arizona’s sovereign authority to secure the border, Mayes told The Gateway Pundit correspondent Jordan Conradson, “that’s a federal issue, and I’m not going to address that right now.”
Watch yesterday’s press conference below.