The DEA sounded the alarm to the largest “rainbow fentanyl” seizure to date in New York City after a woman allegedly attempted to use a LEGO box to deter law enforcement, hiding a stash of 15,000 pills – many made to resemble candy or prescription oxycodone – inside the children’s toy container.
The single seizure removed the equivalent of 500,000 lethal doses from circulation in the Empire State, DEA Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division Frank Tarentino said. In the same reporting period, DEA seized the equivalent of over 36 million lethal doses nationally.
This case represents a broader problem of Mexican cartels’ “most recent tactics to attract the public while deceiving them about the lethal drugs,” according to DEA New York Division. “The Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel are mass-producing fentanyl pills in rainbow colors to not only brand their products, but use colors and dyes to mimic candy and/or legitimate prescription drugs.”