Federal authorities in Utah say they've busted a multimillion-dollar opioid-drug ring based in a suburban Salt Lake City basement, underscoring how a small operation can quickly turn out hundreds of thousands of potentially fatal fentanyl pills to eager buyers.
U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber said Wednesday that the seizure of nearly 500,000 pills ranks among the largest in the country. He says the group who met at an eBay call center bought drugs from China and pressed them into fake prescription drugs sold online.
Authorities say the drugs were especially dangerous because they were manufactured to look like prescription pain pills, so users would not have realized they were taking the more powerful fentanyl — the drug blamed for the death of entertainer Prince.
