Phoenix family discovers 5,000 fentanyl pills inside daughter's thrift store toy

Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by reddicyoulous
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A family in Arizona bought a toy worth far more than what they paid for when they discovered more than 5,000 pills believed to be fentanyl inside the doll.

Phoenix police said Saturday the child's parents bought a Glo Worm from a thrift store in El Mirage, Arizona. The parents were cleaning the toy when they found a sandwich bag filled with the drugs, according to police.

Parents purchased a glow worm at a thrift store in El Mirage for their daughter and found a sandwich bag with over 5,000 pills believed to be fentanyl inside. They called #phoenixpolice and gave the dangerous drugs to officers. Remember to inspect all opened and used items. pic.twitter.com/hRLEuZpXfS — Phoenix Police (@PhoenixPolice) February 21, 2021

Police said the family immediately reported their discovery and handed the drugs over to authorities.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid often mixed with other illicit drugs like heroin and cocaine that causes euphoric-like effects, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids increased over 16 percent from 2018 to 2019, according to the CDC.

Law enforcement officials used the incident as a reminder for parents to inspect all open and used toys.

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It wasn’t the first time illicit drugs were found stuffed inside children’s toys.

In 2015, a New Jersey mom bought a $500 “handmade” mermaid doll filled with cocaine from Etsy. Investigators later determined that the Etsy shop based in Alabama used mer-baby dolls as a front for smuggling drugs.

fakeburtreynolds on February 23rd, 2021 at 15:49 UTC »

Someone I know got addicted to pills. Would buy toys stuffed with pills from China. Could sneak them through customs pretty easily. This sounds like the exact same thing. Original buyer of this toy probably overdosed and their belongings ended up in this thrift store.

todtown on February 23rd, 2021 at 14:33 UTC »

And AGAIN the baby goes free. When are we EVER going to learn!

Nice_Bake on February 23rd, 2021 at 13:59 UTC »

Meanwhile another child is very upset that her mother donated her favorite toy, but not for the reason she thinks.

EDIT: These replies are like telling my mom a joke and getting a lecture