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12,000 fentanyl pills disguised as candy seized at LAX; Authorities issue Halloween warning


By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/12k-fentanyl-pills-disguised-as-candy-seized-at-la-airport.html/

TSA Officer watches people go through the security checkpoint at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on November 24, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia. FAA expects the number of travelers for Thanksgiving to reach pre-pandemic levels, with more than 53 million people traveling around the holiday. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Parents are advised to be extra vigilant this year in checking what their children bring home on Halloween after agents in Los Angeles seized around 12,000 fentanyl pills packaged in several bags of candy, the latest incident of the deadly drug being disguised as something innocuous.

According to a statement from Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, a suspect carrying packages of fentanyl pills attempted to go through a TSA screening at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday, trying sneak past screening and board a plane. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Narcotics Bureau Detectives and Drug Enforcement Agency agents assigned to the airport discovered the pills inside boxes of Sweetarts, Skittles and Whoppers. The person carrying the drugs fled before he or she could be detained, but the suspect’s identity is known. An investigation into the matter is ongoing. 

“With Halloween approaching, parents need to make sure they are checking their kids candy and not allowing them to eat anything until it has been inspected by them,” officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department warned in the statement. 

“If you find anything in candy boxes that you believe might be narcotics, do not touch it and immediately notify your local law enforcement agency.” 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 71,000 overdose deaths from synthetic fentanyl in 2021, up from 57,000 deaths in 2020. 

Last month, New York authorities arrested a New Jersey woman after discovering she had 15,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills inside a lego box. The DEA reported the incident was the largest fentanyl seizure in New York City history. The 48-year-old suspect, Latesha Bush, was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Sept. 30. A criminal complaint filed by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor (SNP) against Bush charged her with one count of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. 

New York authorities investigating suspected narcotics trafficking stopped Bush’s vehicle and found the two black tote bags and a Lego package containing fentanyl pills in the car. The pills were imprinted with “M” and “30” to resemble Oxycodone pills. 

“Disguising fentanyl as candy — and concealing it in children’s toys — will never hide the fact that fentanyl is a deadly poison that harms our communities, our families, and our city,” Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said in a statement.

Investigators claim Bush traveled from New Jersey to Manhattan in a rental car, and the pills she was carrying originated from Mexico. Investigators said disguising fentanyl as candy or other prescription drugs is a tactic used by the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel, two Mexican drug cartels. 

Earlier this month, the DEA announced the results of its One Pill Can Kill initiative, which led to the seizure of more than 10.2 million fentanyl pills and approximately 980 pounds of fentanyl powder from May 23 through Sept. 8. Out of the 390 cases investigated, 51 were linked to overdose poisonings, and 35 were connected to one or both of the Mexican cartels.

In a national survey of 1,000 likely U.S. voters conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC for Rasmussen Reports, 91% of participants said they believe the country’s fentanyl issue is serious, with 73% describing it as a “very serious problem.” 

The survey was conducted from Sept. 26 to Sept. 27 by phone, with a margin sampling of error of is +/- 3 percentage points and a 95% confidence level. 

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GUNS, BOMBS and IEDs Allowed Through Security As TSA Fails 95% Of Tests


 

waving flagPosted By Steve Watson | InfoWars On June 1, 2015

Article printed from Infowars: http://www.infowars.com

URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/guns-bombs-and-ieds-allowed-through-security-as-tsa-fails-95-of-tests/

It has once again been proven that the TSA is pure security theatre, as an internal investigation found that in 95% of test runs, security screeners allowed weapons and mock explosives through, even after people carrying them had been through body screeners and been patted down.

The tests were conducted by Homeland Security Red Teams and the report released by the Homeland Security Inspector General. It states that in 67 out of 70 tests at airport checkpoints, TSA agents failed to detect dangerous weapons.  In one case a man strapped a fake bomb to his back, and set off an alarm, but still managed to get past security after a pat down.

The TSA issued a general statement saying that it employs a “robust security system that employs multiple layers of protection.”

However, behind the scenes, it seems senior officials are furious with the findings. “Upon learning the initial findings of the Office of Inspector General’s report, Secretary Johnson immediately directed TSA to implement a series of actions, several of which are now in place, to address the issues raised in the report,” the DHS said in a written statement to ABC News.

The TSA, via its website and blog routinely brags about weapons it manages to confiscate. It is clear from the latest tests, however, that the agency is woefully failing to efficiently keep airports and planes secure. The agency has previously failed so woefully during undercover tests, that the DHS classified the results for a decade.

According to one report, undercover TSA agents testing security at a Newark airport terminal on one day in 2006 found that TSA screeners failed to detect concealed bombs and guns 20 out of 22 times. A 2007 government audit leaked to USA Today revealed that undercover agents were successful slipping simulated explosives and bomb parts through Los Angeles’s LAX airport in 50 out of 70 attempts, and at Chicago’s O’Hare airport agents made 75 attempts and succeeded in getting through undetected 45 times.

In 2013, an undercover TSA inspector managed to get clearance to board a commercial flight at Newark Airport with an improvised explosive device stuffed in his pants. The inspector got past two security screenings, including a pat-down.

The TSA, instead of better training screeners, and investing in real security, has wasted billions in funding on frankly bizarre programs such as a failed ‘chat down’ program, where TSA screeners identify people they think look ‘suspicious’ and talk to them. While admitting that it has failed to apprehend one single terrorist, the TSA has launched a series of other ludicrous programs which seem to have little other purpose than treating innocent travelers like prisoners and humiliating the public.

One such program was to randomly test passengers’ drinks for explosives after they have already passed through security and purchased beverages inside the secure area of the airport.

While threatening to arrest passengers who make jokes about airport security, the federal agency also instituted a ludicrous “freeze” policy whereby travelers are ordered to stand in place like statues while TSA agents resolve some unexplained security threat.

And of course, everyone knows by now that whistle blowers and security experts have declared the TSA’s body scanners as woefully useless. Given that the manufacturers of the scanners are now in charge of TSA’s budget in Congress, however, it is likely that more tax dollars will be thrown at them, and the government will continue to pretend that airports are secure.

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Steve Watson is a London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.com, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham, and a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University.

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