Suspected Elephant Tranquilizer Carfentanil Seized In Drug Bust
UNITY TWP. (KDKA) -- Troopers went undercover to intercept a mail delivery of fentanyl and were shocked to find out the package had carfentanil inside.
"It's so dangerous that while our people are gathering evidence they have to be in full suits that you would see for the clandestine team," said Trooper Stephen Limani of the Pennsylvania State Police. What state police thought was fentanyl being delivered to home in Unity Township on Wednesday turned out to be the most powerful opioid commercially available.
"This substance that is absolutely so potent that it's unbelievable is carfentanil," said Tpr. Limani.
Carfentanil is 10,000 times more powerful than morphine and lethal at the microgram level. What you may not be able to see with your naked eye is enough to kill you.
"It's something they put down elephants with," said Tpr. Limani. It's designed as an elephant tranquilizer and it's not approved for human use.
State police said a package of carfentanil was received by Kerri Malloy on Wednesday. According to police, it weighs five grams but if broken down and cut with other substances it could be distributed in roughly 50,000 stamp bags.
"I would be shocked if this delivery did not end up killing a large quantity of people in our area," said Tpr. Limani.
According to state police, a stamp bag in Westmoreland County sells for about $20. Multiply that by 50,000 and they estimate this confiscated carfentanil to have a street value of $1,000,000.
Police said the return address is from Naples, Florida. Police said Malloy admitted to ordering it on the dark web and paying for it with bitcoins.
"We're going to see if we can use her and we're going to try to follow this forward. We doubt that she was going to be the one cutting it all," said Tpr. Limani.
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