Arizona Border Patrol agents seize 2,100 fentanyl pills hidden inside tamales: official

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from the Nogales Port of Entry in Arizona made the discovery and found that the fentanyl pills were being stored inside the tamales, which were kept in an ice cooler. (Customs and Border P)

NOGALES, Ariz. - Border Patrol agents in Arizona seized 2,100 fentanyl pills that were hidden inside tamales on Wednesday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from the Nogales Port of Entry in Arizona found the pills hidden inside tamales that were being kept in a cooler.

According to Port Director Michael Humphries, each tamale had a bag of blue pills hidden inside.

"Excellent work by officers and K9 teams maintaining a high level of vigilance," Humphries tweeted.

On Sunday, officers at the Nogales Port of Entry also seized what it is calling a new version of "rainbow" fentanyl pills that haven't been encountered before.

Humphries said officers seized 413,000 fentanyl pills, and 44,000 of them had rainbow colors.

A new type of rainbow-colored fentanyl. (CBP)

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According to Humphries, 7.4 pounds of fentanyl powder and 14.4 pounds of heroin were also seized.

Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram said in a press release that "rainbow" fentanyl pills are an attempt to "drive addiction" among kids and young adults.

"Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults," Milgram said. "The men and women of the DEA are relentlessly working to stop the trafficking of rainbow fentanyl and defeat the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in the United States."