Florida police say they have seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly half a million people in a drug bust in Palm Coast.
Brian Pirraglia, 39, and Michael Connelly, 40, were both taken into custody on Monday by Flagler County Sheriff's deputies after they executed a search warrant at Pirraglia's home.
Officers uncovered 916 grams of fentanyl in total, which would be enough to kill 481,000 people. A dose of around two milligrams can be fatal, and there are 1,000 milligrams in a gram.
Around 510 grams of fentanyl were found bagged in Pirraglia's kitchen, and a plastic jar labeled 'protein' contained another 406 grams of the deadly drug, Click Orlando reported.
It comes amid a nationwide crisis over fentanyl - a synthetic opioid similar to morphine which is 50 times more potent than heroin.
Officers uncovered 510 grams of a substance that tested positive for fentanyl bagged in Pirraglia's kitchen, as well as a plastic jar labeled 'protein' containing another 406 grams of the deadly drug
Michael Connelly, 40, and Brian Pirraglia, 39, were taken into police custody on September 7, and held on $3,000 and $500 bonds, respectively
Police said they also seized several hypodermic syringes; multiple spoons caked a white, powdery residue; a glass vial; a silicone smoking pipe with burnt cannabis residue; and a metal grinder in the master bedroom of the home.
More than 41 grams of Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim, a prescription-only narcotic, were also recovered in a bedroom, according to deputies.
The sheriff's office said both men have a long criminal history.
Connelly has been hit with charges of fraud, grand theft auto, cocaine and hydromorphone possession, and probation violation since 2007.
Pirraglia's rap sheet began in 2014, and includes shoplifting, fentanyl possession and resisting an officer without violence.
'These two are frequent guests at the Green Roof Inn (jail) and have yet to learn their lesson,' Sheriff Rick Staly said.
Connelly has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia/equipment and a legend drug without a prescription while Pirraglia was held solely on the possession of paraphernalia/equipment charge.
Connelly has been held on $3,000 bond, and Pirraglia is held on a $500 bond, officials said.
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Police also seized several hypodermic syringes; multiple spoons caked a white, powdery residue; a glass vial; a silicone smoking pipe with burnt cannabis residue; and a metal grinder in the master bedroom of the home, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office
The bust comes amid an unprecedented uptick in cocaine overdoses across the country - with officials blaming drugs that have been cut with fentanyl by dealers.
Widespread seizures of contaminated cocaine over the past years indicate drug dealers are mixing fentanyl into the drug, to either make it more potent or profitable to sell.
It can also be inadvertently mixed into cocaine by drug dealers who use the same blending equipment to cut other drugs - like heroin.
Over the past four years, cocaine-related fatalities have more than doubled.
The rising death toll reflects the increasingly common - and deadly - cocktail of cocaine and fentanyl.
According to Florida’s Medical Examiners Commission, 2,499 of the 2,882 statewide cocaine deaths involved cocaine in combination with other drugs.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 83,000 people lost their
