TULSA, Okla. — The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says they made a major fentanyl bust on August 1st in a rural area of western Oklahoma.

Troopers say they pulled over a truck on I-40 hauling cars on a trailer for following too closely.

During the traffic stop, troopers say the driver’s story wasn’t adding up, so they asked if they could search the truck.

The driver gave consent, and troopers say they found 49.55 pounds of fentanyl hidden inside one of the cars on the trailer.

Lt. Mark Southall with OHP says that is enough fentanyl to kill every person in Oklahoma three times over.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, and OHP says it is roughly 50 times stronger than heroin.

Lt. Southall says, “At this point, we believe that it is going to be cartel-based, coming across the southern border.”

OHP says they are intentionally vague about their tactics because they don’t want to tip off the cartel.

Lt. Southall says fentanyl is cheap to make and so addictive that it is being mixed with everything from marijuana to cocaine.

Law enforcement says the cartel is strategically smuggling fentanyl across the border, and troopers are being more vigilant in keeping the synthetic opioid from reaching the population.

Troopers are also encountering human trafficking along with their drug busts.

OHP is making a lot of busts on Oklahoma’s two main highways across the state, I-35 and I-40.

Lt. Southall says since 2019, fentanyl deaths have increased tenfold.

About 50 people in Oklahoma died of fentanyl overdoses in 2019.

In 2020, Lt. Southall says there were 609 deaths from fentanyl.

The latest stats from 2023 show 748 people died after overdosing on fentanyl.