Originally published as a Riverside Police Department Facebook post –
“Last night around 10:00 p.m. on February 1, 2022, patrol officers stopped a car on Madison Street at the 91 Freeway. During their stop, they found the driver to be in possession of 5 packages of suspected synthetic fentanyl pills. Based on the amount found, the Narcotics Unit was asked to assist in the investigation.
Detectives obtained then served a search warrant at the driver’s residence very early this morning around 1:00 a.m. and located two additional packages of these same suspected fentanyl pills. Altogether, the total amount of synthetic fentanyl appears to be around 7,000 pills.
Benjamin Mendoza, 36-years-old of Riverside, was arrested and booked into jail this morning for possession of illegal narcotics with the intent to sell. He has since been released on bail earlier today.
Fentanyl is a new epidemic in Riverside County and a dangerous drug that is killing people in our community at an alarming rate.
The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office has taken the lead in not just the prosecution, but also educating our public about the dangers of this synthetic poison. To learn more and to hear stories from those most affected by this drug, please visit the D.A.’s website at https://rivcoda.org/dangers-of-fentanyl.”
