12,000 suspected fentanyl pills found in candy boxes at LAX security checkpoint

LOS ANGELES – Authorities seized about 12,000 pills believed to contain fentanyl that a person tried to bring in candy boxes through a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday .

Narcotics detectives and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force agents made the seizure around 7:30 a.m., according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.

The suspect tried to go through Transportation Security Administration screening “with several bags of candy and miscellaneous snacks with the intent of boarding a plane,” deputies said.

Security officers discovered that the candy boxes contained pills believed to contain fentanyl, deputies said.

“The suspect fled prior to being detained by law enforcement but has been identified and the investigation is ongoing,” according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Information on whether the pills had tested positive for fentanyl was not immediately available .

Though the pills were hidden inside candy boxes, it’s not likely they would have been passed off as candy, said Nicole Nishida, a spokesperson for the DEA’s Los Angeles Division.

“It’s a concealment tactic,” Nishida said.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department’s Narcotics Bureau at (562) 946-7125.

Anonymous tips can be submitted to Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477, or at lacrimestoppers.org.