The Arkansas State Police arrested two people and seized around 50,000 fentanyl pills during a traffic stop Monday on Interstate 40 in North Little Rock, according to a news release from the agency.
A trooper stopped the vehicle around 8 a.m. Monday between Prothro Junction and the Interstate 440 interchange after seeing the driver make an improper lane change, the state police said in the release on Friday.
The trooper searched the vehicle and reported discovering about 11.8 pounds of fentanyl pills and a gun, the release states.
A state police spokeswoman referred questions about the identities of the people arrested and the charges they face to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. A DEA spokeswoman declined to release the information, citing an active investigation.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine that is a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the U.S., according to the website of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.