(The Center Square) – Last month Merced County saw large amounts of drugs being seized through routine traffic stops. Approximately 104 pounds of methamphetamine and 25 pounds of fentanyl were found inside a vehicle when a police canine alerted to the presence of drugs during an enforcement stop by a K-9 officer from the CHP’s Central Division on April 25.
Two days later, 15 pounds of fentanyl was located in the rear passenger floorboard during another K-9 CHP stop. The consent search followed an enforcement stop when the drugs were found.
The street value of the seized drugs is worth approximately $4.2 million.
Both investigations were turned over to the Merced Area Gang and Narcotic Enforcement Team (MAGNET). During the April 25th stop, charges of possession of methamphetamine for sale, transportation of methamphetamine across noncontiguous counties, possession of fentanyl for sale, and transportation of fentanyl across noncontiguous counties were laid against the driver and three passengers who were booked into the Merced County Jail.
In the second incident the driver fled into the foothills while MAGNET was enroute, but was captured with the assistance of the Merced County Sheriff’s Office air unit. The driver and two passengers were arrested and booked into the Merced County Jail on charges of possession of fentanyl for sale, and transportation of fentanyl across noncontiguous counties.
The arrest of the seven suspects by the California Highway Patrol (CHP), and the Merced County Sheriff’s Office and the investigation by MAGNET, is part of the California Department of Justice commitment to working with a coalition of allied task forces and law enforcement to “detect, deter, disrupt, and dismantle criminal fentanyl operations” across California and protect communities from fentanyl exposure.
MAGNET is a California Department of Justice, Bureau of Investigation led multiagency task force, federally funded through the national High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program. It is comprised of members from the California Department of Justice, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation-Special Services Unit, Merced County Sheriff’s Office, Merced Police Department, Merced County Probation Department, Merced County District Attorney’s Office, Los Banos Police Department, Livingston Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Throughout the nation, we continue to address the impacts of the opioid crisis, and have in recent years seen a marked increase in fentanyl use and associated deaths,” said Attorney General Bonta. “This crisis is a multifaceted public health and safety issue — and addressing this crisis requires a thoughtful and strategic approach.
Merced is located in the San Joaquin Valley, Northern California east of San Jose, and has a population of approximately 86,000 residents.
This article First appeared in the center square