Feds: Drug ring had enough cheap fentanyl to kill 14 million

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Law enforcement officials in Virginia say they’ve busted a multi-state drug ring and seized enough cheap fentanyl to kill 14 million people.

The bust was announced Thursday in Norfolk by G. Zachary Terwilliger, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be much stronger and more lethal than heroin. It’s often mixed with heroin and other drugs.

Terwilliger said at a press conference that much of the 30 kilograms (about 66 pounds) of fentanyl came from Chinese labs. He said that one of the 39 people who’ve been charged had ordered the drug from Shanghai to the city of Newport News through the U.S. mail.

American and Chinese officials have been trying to stem the flow of lethal opioids from China.