2 men from Texas arrested in NC with 10,000 fentanyl pills 

A traffic stop turned into a drug bust for the Gaston County Police Department on Monday, according to police.

Officers pulled over two men in a Buick Sedan at about 3:30 p.m. and a K-9 signaled drugs may be in the vehicle. After a search, officers found 10,000 pressed fentanyl pills inside, according to a news release by the department.

Just 2 mg is enough fentanyl to kill someone and all together, the pills weighed 1 kilogram. This is enough to kill 500,000 people based on measurements from the Drug Enforcement Agency.

The amount of fentanyl police seized this week could kill the population of Gaston County more than twice over.

The driver of the Buick, Angel Alvarez De Leon, and his passenger, Alfredo Diaz, both of Dallas, Texas, were arrested and charged with multiple counts of trafficking fentanyl, according to police.

As of Wednesday, they were being held at the Gaston County Jail on a $1,000,000 secured bond.

Kallie Cox

The Charlotte Observer

Kallie Cox covers public safety for The Charlotte Observer. They grew up in Springfield, Illinois and attended school at SIU Carbondale. They reported on police accountability and LGBTQ immigration barriers for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. And, they previously worked at The Southern Illinoisan before moving to Charlotte. Support my work with a digital subscription