Nogales Border Patrol agents find 2,100 fentanyl pills hidden inside tamales

Arizona Border Patrol agents found 2,100 fentanyl pills hidden inside tamales on Wednesday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Nogales Port of Entry found the deadly drug inside several tamales that were being kept in an ice chest.

Each tamale had a bag of blue pills hidden inside, according to a tweet by Port Director Michael W. Humphries.

"Excellent work by officers and K9 teams maintaining a high level of vigilance," Humphries added.

On Wednesday, CBP officers at the Nogales POE discovered approximately 2,100 fentanyl pills concealed inside tamales in an ice chest. Each tamale contained a baggie of blue pills hidden inside. Excellent work by officers and K9 teams maintaining a high level of vigilance. pic.twitter.com/VoNNXQHg3T

— Port Director Michael W. Humphries (@CBPPortDirNOG) October 13, 2022

The discovery comes days after Arizona Border Patrol Agents encountered a new version of the “rainbow” fentanyl pills also in Nogales.

Agents seized 413,000 pills in the bust, 44,000 of which had a distinct and new color combination, according to Port Director Humphries.

Fentanyl drug overdose deaths in Arizona have been steadily increasing since 2019, according to Maricopa County Data. According to government statistics, more than 71,000 Americans have died from fentanyl overdoses last year.

In late August, Arizona Customs and Border Protection agents seized around 340 packages of fentanyl pills at the border, enough fentanyl pills to potentially kill 42,410,900 people, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.