1.7 million counterfeit fentanyl pills, 12 kilograms of fentanyl powder discovered in storage unit in Douglas County

A winning bidder of a Colorado storage unit unexpectedly found more than 1 million counterfeit fentanyl pills inside in a record-breaking narcotics seizure, federal authorities announced Monday.

The bidder made the “shocking discovery” on Nov. 11 at a suburban Denver storage facility, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. The individual “immediately” notified the sheriff’s office of what appeared to be illegal narcotics, authorities said.

Law enforcement ultimately identified approximately 1.7 million counterfeit fentanyl pills and 12 kilograms of fentanyl powder that had the potential to yield up to an additional 6 million pills, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The incident marks the largest one-time seizure of counterfeit pills in Colorado history, and the sixth-largest single seizure of suspected fentanyl pills in U.S. history, federal authorities said. Additionally, 2.5 pounds of methamphetamine were seized, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

Federal authorities said these counterfeit fentanyl pills were seized from a storage facility in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

The registered owner of the storage unit was already in federal custody when the discovery occurred, according to the DEA. The individual was taken into custody by the DEA in April, “which resulted in the unit going unpaid and eventually being auctioned off,” the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said.

Authorities did not release the name of the storage facility, the registered owner of the unit or the citizen who won the unit in the auction. No additional details are being released at this time due to the ongoing investigation, the DEA said.

“This played out like an episode of a TV show, where a winning bidder legally bought a storage unit and unbeknownst to them, the unit contained 1.7 million counterfeit fentanyl pills and another 12 kilograms of fentanyl powder,” DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge David Olesky said in a statement. “There is no doubt many lives have been saved by keeping these poison pills off the streets of Colorado.”

Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly thanked the citizen who reported the discovery and the storage facility staff for their help. “Let me send a strong and unmistakable message: fentanyl and illegal narcotics will not be tolerated in Douglas County,” he said in a statement.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also thanked those involved in what he called the “largest successful fentanyl seizure in Colorado history.”

“Getting more of this deadly drug off the streets saves lives,” he said in a statement.

ByMeredith Deliso/ABC News