Auctioned storage unit in Colorado yields record drug haul

A winning bidder of a Colorado storage unit found more than 1 million fentanyl pills inside in a record-breaking narcotics seizure. The bidder made the discovery November 11 at a suburban Denver storage facility. The individual notified the sheriff’s office of what appeared to be drugs. The final tally was 1.7m fentanyl pills and 12 kilograms of fentanyl powder that had the potential to yield an additional 6m pills. 2.5 pounds of methamphetamine was also seized.

The registered owner of the storage unit was already in federal custody. The unnamed individual was taken into custody by the DEA in April, “which resulted in the unit going unpaid and eventually being auctioned off.”

The haul marks the largest one-time seizure of counterfeit pills in Colorado history, and the sixth-largest single seizure of fentanyl pills in U.S. history.