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Source: KiddNation / Kidd Nation

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) just secured the largest drug bust in New York City’s vast history of drug trafficking.

Federal authorities have accused Latesha Bush, 48, of concealing close to 15,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills as a part of a drug trafficking scheme.

The pills were found inside a bright yellow LEGO box that held several brick-shaped packages covered in black tape next to LEGO blocks. The rainbow fentanyl pills come in bright colors and can be used in the form of pills or powder that contain the powerful synthetic opioid, making them extremely addictive and potentially deadly if someone overdoses. The colored pills were also imprinted with “M” and “30″ to resemble “30 M,” oxycodone hydrochloride 30 mg pills. Federal and local drug enforcement officials are suspecting the pills are being distributed from Mexican drug cartels in an attempt to garner sales for the upcoming Halloween season.

New York Police Department Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell sees the rainbow pills as an act against children in NYC. “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.”

Maya Doe Simkins, the co-founder of the Opioid Safety and Naloxone Network and co-director of Remedy Alliance, stated clarifications on the coloring of the pills. “The reason it’s colored is just to differentiate products. If we had a regulated market, they would be differentiated in different ways – we do not. It has nothing to do with marketing to kids at all, period, whatsoever.”

Last week Latesha Bush plead not guilty in front of an arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.

The Trenton, New Jersey woman was charged with one count of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid supposed to help people manage severe pain. It’s 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It’s used illicitly because of its heroin-like effect, and even small doses can be deadly. The DEA stated that they have seized 10.2 million fentanyl pills and approximately 980 pounds of fentanyl powder that’s about 356 million doses from May 23 to Sept. 8, 2022. In 2020, about 76,000 lives were claimed to fentanyl overdoses in a 12-month period.

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