Police ask the owner of 14,088 bags of fentanyl found in Delaware to come forward

Two people on an evening walk in the woods in Claymont, Del., made a surprising discovery Sunday when they stumbled upon 14,088 bags of fentanyl, according to a news release from the New Castle County Police Department, who’d like a word with the owner of the now-confiscated stash.

“If you happen to be missing a significant quantity of fentanyl or have any information about who it may belong to, please contact the New Castle County Division of Police at 302-573-2800 or dial 911 in an emergency,” the release said.

As of Monday afternoon, nobody had come forward yet, said Master Cpl. Richard Chambers, New Castle County police spokesperson.

“I’m hoping somebody says, ‘Hey that was mine!’ but nobody has claimed it,” Chambers said. “I can’t imagine why.”

A young adult and juvenile were walking in a wooded area off Miles Road in Claymont’s Radnor Green development — which is about a 30 minute drive from Philadelphia — when they discovered two grocery bags they believed to be filled with drugs.

“It was literally in the woods behind a neighborhood,” said Chambers. “There’s even a dog park, it’s a populated area by any means.”

The two young people immediately returned home and told a family member about their discovery. That individual went to check out the find, also believed it to be narcotics, and called police, Chambers said. He credited the civilians for not touching the contents of the bags and for leaving the stash where it was found.

Responding officers confiscated the bags, which contained two large packages known as “bricks.” Analysis and testing of the contents at police headquarters revealed a total of 14,088 individual bags of fentanyl within the two bricks, according to police.

Chambers said it’s not clear yet if the drugs were dropped in the woods for someone else to pick up.

“We’re still exploring how they got there,” he said. “At this time we don’t have an answer as to why they were placed there.”

In a Facebook post from the department about the discovery, commenters commended the civilians who found and reported the drugs.

“Kudos to that young adult and child for doing the right thing,” one person wrote.

“Happy to see that off the street! Great job to the kid and parents!” another said.

Chambers said the actions of the three civilians prevented untold harm.

“One pinhead of fentanyl can kill a person and if you think about how many of those pebbles are in one bag and times that by 14,000, when you start thinking about it, you could knock down a whole city,” he said. “It’s truly terrible to think that was sitting in the woods for somebody to touch.”