A family in Arizona bought a toy worth far more than what they paid for when they discovered more than 5,000 pills believed to be fentanyl inside the doll.
Phoenix police said Saturday the child’s parents bought a Glo Worm from a thrift store in El Mirage, Arizona. The parents were cleaning the toy when they found a sandwich bag filled with the drugs, according to police.
Police said the family immediately reported their discovery and handed the drugs over to authorities.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid often mixed with other illicit drugs like heroin and cocaine that causes euphoric-like effects, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids increased over 16 percent from 2018 to 2019, according to the CDC.
Law enforcement officials used the incident as a reminder for parents to inspect all open and used toys.
It wasn’t the first time illicit drugs were found stuffed inside 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 Etsy shop based in Alabama used mer-baby dolls as a front for smuggling drugs.
