Cottonwood Police Take 100,000 Fentanyl Pills off the Street

9/30/22

A traffic stop by Cottonwood Police Wednesday afternoon resulted in one arrest and the discovery of 100,000 fentanyl pills. According to police officials, a Cottonwood K9 unit was conducting a drug interdiction detail on I-17. Multiple traffic stops were conducted and during one of those stops a vehicle was being operated by 32-year-old Mexican National, Pedro Martinez-Perez. During this traffic stop, indicators of possible drug trafficking were identified and K9 Duke was deployed to conduct a free-air sniff where he alerted on the vehicle. A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed a large duffle bag containing 100 individual bags of approximately 1000 blue pills each. During further examination of these pills, they were confirmed to be approximately 100,000 fentanyl pills.

“This is now 'wash, rinse, repeat’ for many Arizona police departments,” Cottonwood Police Chief Steve Gesell said. “When 70% of deadly fentanyl enters our Country through Arizona’s southern border, it’s not surprising that agencies across our state continue to make large fentanyl seizures. We believe the vast majority of what our officers interdict is destined for final destinations throughout the Country and beyond. There is no doubt lives were saved when you take 100,000 pills off the street."