SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly 400,000 fentanyl pills have been seized in Utah as part of a nationwide operation aimed at disrupting the flow of the drug into the United States.

Operation Fentanyl Free America launched in October. According to Miguel Chino, assistant special agent in charge at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division, there were a little over one million fentanyl pills and “a lot” of fentanyl powder seized in Utah, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming.

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid used to relieve pain.

“This area – Utah – we’ve seized pretty close to 400,000 fentanyl pills, which is just amazing and unbelievable and scary at the same time,” Chino told KSL TV.

Chino said disrupting fentanyl trafficking involves enforcement and education.

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