Boxes of ‘candy’ hid 12,000 fentanyl pills at airport, California sheriff says

Screeners found 12,000 fentanyl pills hidden inside candy boxes on a man boarding a flight at Los Angeles International Airport, California officials reported.

The pills were found inside boxes and bags of Whoppers, Skittles and Sweet Tarts at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

“It’s a concealment tactic,” Nicole Nishida, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesperson, told the Los Angeles Times.

It’s not likely the smugglers intended to try to pass the pills off as candy, Nishida said.

The boxes of pills were found hidden among other candy and snacks on a passenger trying to board a plane, sheriff’s officials said. The passenger fled and escaped the airport.

Although the fentanyl pills in this case were clearly identifiable as drugs, agencies across the United States have been warning about “rainbow fentanyl,” brightly colored fentanyl that could be mistaken for candy or chalk, McClatchy News reported.

But drug experts say fears of rainbow fentanyl or other drugs being handed out to children as Halloween candy are unfounded, the Houston Chronicle reported.

“It is highly unlikely your normal Halloween candy will be contaminated with fentanyl,” said Joy Alonzo, a clinical assistant professor in the department of pharmacy practice at Texas A&M University.

This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 8:42 AM with the headline "Boxes of ‘candy’ hid 12,000 fentanyl pills at airport, California sheriff says."