Customs and Border Protection officers found a relatively small amount of fentanyl -- a rare occurrence for the Mid-Atlantic region -- in a shipping container in Norfolk that was bound for Sierra Leone.
The container contained three older models of Toyota sedans that were being shipped from Prince George's County, Maryland. Investigators found 117.8 grams, or about 4.1 ounces, of the synthetic opioid during a routine check of vehicle exports Nov. 8, according to a news release.
The powdery substance was found "comingled with personal effects and the vehicles," CBP said. Officers determined it was fentanyl using a handheld elemental isotope analysis tool.
The average seizure of fentanyl being transported by non-land means across the country since 2021 is about 52 ounces, according to CBP data.
Fentanyl seizures at CBP's Baltimore Field Office, which handles the Hampton Roads region, are fairly rare but there's been an uptick of more than 200% since last year though an 85% reduction in the average size of the seizure, the data shows. There were four fentanyl seizures in 2021, with an average of 16 ounces in each, nine seizures with an average of 96 ounces in 2022, eight seizures with an average of 42 ounces in 2023, and 18 so far in 2024 with an average of only 6.2 ounces.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider fentanyl to be up to 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin. Powdered fentanyl resembles many other drugs and it's often mixed in with other drugs, making it easy for a user to unknowingly ingest a stronger dose.
"This seizure illustrates how quickly a routine examination can turn potentially deadly for Customs and Border Protection officers on our nation's frontlines," Mark Laria, CBP's Area Port Director for the Area Port of Norfolk-Newport News, said in a news release. "This may be a small amount of fentanyl, but it doesn't take much of this very dangerous synthetic opioid to seriously injure or kill an unsuspecting CBP officer, seaport longshoreman, vessel seaman, or truck driver who may be accidentally exposed to it while just doing their jobs."