KING COUNTY, Wash. — The King County Sheriff’s Office and Shoreline Police Department seized nearly 300,000 fentanyl pills during a multi-agency operation on Aug. 3.
The seizure was part of Operation Jade and is one of the largest drug seizures for the King County Sheriff's Office to date.
"This is very significant," Shoreline Police Chief Kelly Park said. "This case saved many many lives and this case is in the top 5 King County Sheriff's Office busts for fentanyl."
According to the King County Sheriff’s Office, the operation seized 290,000 fentanyl pills, 9.5 pounds of fentanyl powder, 5.7 pounds of heroin, a pound of cocaine, more than $52,000 in cash and one stolen firearm. It was a significant bust -- but Undersheriff Jesse Anderson says it's just part of the puzzle.
"We're not going to solve this problem in law enforcement, this is a community problem," Undersheriff Anderson said. "This is a society problem, in this country as long as the demand for fentanyl is there, the cartels will continue to manufacture it. They will continue to send it up here because they're making boatloads of money off of this and it's not going to end until we get the message across that this is a very lethal drug."
The Shoreline Police Department and Narcotics Detection K9 Quinn assisted in the operation which targeted a suspected trafficker in the cities of Shoreline, Burien, White Center, and Seattle.
The sheriff’s office said the amount of fentanyl seized was enough to cause more than 2 million lethal doses. The narcotics totaled more than $1.2 million in value.
“In this one operation, the Sheriff’s Office stopped enough fentanyl to take the lives of millions of people. King County will not stop in this fight, and we’re working around the clock, through law enforcement, public health, and human services to protect people from this deadly toxin,” said King County Executive Constantine.
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