Drug 100 times more potent than fentanyl seized in Perris

News release from the Riverside County District Attorney's Office:

RIVERSIDE – In what is believed to likely be the largest seizure of carfentanil in Riverside County, a Perris man and woman have been charged by the DA’s Office with four drug-related felonies after a lengthy investigation by the Riverside Police Department.

The investigation led to the seizure of dozens of kilos of illegal drugs – including 21 kilos of suspected carfentanil.

Carfentanil is an analog of the manmade opioid fentanyl. It is highly regulated and not intended or approved for use on humans. And it is more potent and potentially much more deadly than fentanyl.

Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. It only takes about two milligrams of fentanyl to be a fatal amount. Carfentanil is 100 times more powerful than fentanyl and 10,000 times more potent than morphine. A lethal dose of carfentanil in humans would be at the nanogram level – much smaller than the two milligrams of fentanyl that can kill.

If mixed in with other drugs, the 21 kilos of carfentanil seized could have been enough to potentially kill more than 50 million people.

Andres Jesus Morales, 30, and Alyssa Christine Ponce, 27, have each been charged with four felonies for possession for sales of fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin. They were arraigned today at the Hall of Justice in Riverside. Both entered not guilty pleas to all counts and their next court date in Nov. 9. Both defendants are being held on no bail.

Since the beginning of the year, Riverside police detectives in the department’s Narcotics Unit have been investigating a suspected drug trafficking organization believed to be supplying fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin in Riverside County.

On Aug. 17, Riverside police served a search warrant at a home on Glimmer Way in Perris and seized the 21 kilos of carfentanil, four kilos of cocaine, and one kilo of heroin. No one was at the location when the warrant was served. However, detectives were able to identify Morales and Ponce as the suspects.

On Sept. 14, detectives served another search warrant at a home on Limousin Street in Perris. A narcotics detective and his canine partner “Link” searched the residence and located another 16 kilos of cocaine in the garage. Morales and Ponce were arrested and booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center.

The investigation by the Riverside Police Department is continuing.