DENVER (KDVR) — The Drug Enforcement Agency said Monday that a tip led to the seizure of around 670,000 fake pills headed to Denver from Albuquerque.
The seizures happened in Albuquerque and Colorado Springs.
According to a release by the DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division, a concerned citizen reported two suspicious men in Albuquerque who were traveling to Denver by bus.
Both men became nervous and one of the men fled, leaving behind two large suitcases. The Albuquerque Police Department responded and seized the two suitcases.
A search warrant was obtained and around 330,000 fake pills and two ounces of heroin were found in the bags.
The second man continued on and boarded the bus to Denver. He also had two suitcases.
The DEA office in Colorado Springs was contacted. They later detained the second man and seized the suitcases and a backpack.
A Colorado Springs Police Department K-9 alerted to the presence of narcotics on all three. A search warrant was obtained and around 340,000 fake pills and several thousand dollars in cash were seized from the bags, according to the DEA
According to the DEA, the suspect arrested in Colorado Springs was later identified as a fugitive Denver resident who was wanted on outstanding drug trafficking warrants.
“The number of fentanyl pills seized in this case is almost enough to give every resident in the city of Denver one fake pill,” DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen said.
There were 2.61 million pills seized in Colorado in all of 2023.
