Phoenix family finds 5,000 fentanyl pills in daughter’s thrift store toy

A family in Arizona bought a toy much more than what they paid for when they discovered more than 5,000 pills believed to be fentanyl inside the doll.

Phoenix police said on Saturday the child’s parents purchased a Glo Worm from a thrift store in El Mirage, Ariz. The parents were cleaning the toy when they found a sandwich bag full of drugs, police said.

Parents bought a glowworm from a thrift store in El Mirage for their daughter and found a sandwich bag containing more than 5,000 tablets believed to contain fentanyl. They called #phoenixpolice and gave the dangerous drugs to the officers. Remember to inspect all open and used items. pic.twitter.com/hRLEuZpXfS

– Phoenix Police (@PhoenixPolice) February 21, 2021

Police said the family immediately reported the find and turned the drugs over to authorities.

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

Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids increased by more than 16% between 2018 and 2019, according to the CDC.

Law enforcement officials used the incident to remind parents to inspect all open and used toys.

It was not the first time that illegal drugs were found in 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 Alabama-based Etsy store was using sea-baby dolls as a front for drug trafficking.