Two men arrested after authorities seize 91,000 fentanyl pills stuffed inside potato chip cans

Two Washington state men that investigators believe are involved with a transnational criminal organization were indicted on Friday after authorities seized 91,000 fentanyl pills stuffed inside potato chip cans earlier this month.

Juan E. Hernandez-Hernandez and Alejandro Macias-Velazquez were arrested in July after a massive investigation into the transnational criminal enterprise. The group allegedly imports bulk quantities of fentanyl pills into Whatcom County, the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The two suspects were arrested after Homeland Security Investigations agents working with the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office received information that Hernandez-Hernandez had arranged for the delivery of about 91,000 pills in Bellingham, according to court records.

HSI agents investigated the lead and observed Macias-Velazquez arrive at a parking lot in Bellingham to deliver a duffle bag, which was later determined to be filled with around 10 kilograms of fentanyl concealed within cardboard boxes and potato chip containers, according to HSI.

Both men were then arrested.

Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo warned of the dangers surrounding the highly synthetic drug, and said that fentanyl has become more widely available following a decrease in street price and a surplus of pills trafficked into the state.

"Street sales of illicit forms of fentanyl are resulting in deaths in Whatcom County and across Washington," Sheriff Elfo said in the press release, according to KOMO News. "The street price of the drug has plummeted and it has become widely available in our local community. The Sheriff's Office works very closely with Homeland Security Investigations and other partners to disrupt the organized criminal enterprises that traffic in this drug. This case illustrates the successes that can be achieved in combatting the proliferation of fentanyl when local and federal law enforcement combine forces."

HSI special agent in charge Robert Hammer said in a press release from the Department of Homeland Security that the department will continue to work alongside law enforcement agencies in their continued effort to keep drugs off the streets.

"The dangers of fentanyl cannot be understated, more so in an area where there have been recent overdose deaths attributed to fentanyl-laced pills," special agent Hammer said. "I am grateful for the continued support of the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office and CBP's Air and Marine Operations along with our other law enforcement partnerships that are critical in keeping drugs out of our communities in the Pacific Northwest."

The Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) states that fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that "is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin as an analgesic."