Fresno County deputy seizes 15.4 pounds of fentanyl on I-5

A Fresno County deputy pulled 15.4 pounds of fentanyl from a vehicle on Interstate 5 east of Coalinga, a haul that could be broken into thousands of street-level sales and underscores how heavily traffickers still rely on the Central Valley corridor.

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said the stop happened Wednesday, May 13, 2026, during a patrol traffic stop for a violation. After contacting the two men in the vehicle, the deputy searched it and found the fentanyl. Both men were arrested and booked into jail on narcotics possession and intent-to-sell-related charges, and their names were not released because the investigation remained open.

At roughly 6.99 kilograms, the seizure stands out even in a region that has seen repeated fentanyl interceptions on I-5. The Sheriff’s Office said the bust followed another traffic stop on April 11 that produced 6.6 pounds of fentanyl, a case in which K-9 Willow alerted to the odor of narcotics. That pattern has made the freeway east of Coalinga a recurring pressure point for enforcement, where a single stop can expose a load meant to move quickly through Fresno County and beyond.

The scale of the seizure also lands against the backdrop of California’s fentanyl crisis. The California Department of Public Health says opioids are the main driver of drug overdose deaths in the United States, and close to 8,000 Californians died from opioid-related overdoses in 2023. The department also says California’s National Guard seized 28,765 pounds of fentanyl in 2022, a 594% increase from 2021. In that context, 15.4 pounds in one vehicle represents more than a traffic stop. It is part of a wider fight over whether law enforcement is cutting supply chains or merely catching a fraction of what moves through the state.

I-5 has produced a string of fentanyl cases in Fresno County. On Oct. 3, 2024, the California Highway Patrol said a stop near Nees Avenue uncovered 11 pounds of fentanyl hidden in food containers, and the case was turned over to the Fresno High Impact Investigation Team. In another federal case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said two men were indicted after an April 11, 2026 stop on I-5 in Fresno County led to the discovery of three kilogram packages of fentanyl powder destined for Oakland.

The Sheriff’s Office urged anyone with information about illegal drug activity to report it anonymously through its Narcotics Hotline at 1-800-660-1086, by email at drugtip@fresnosheriff.org, or through Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867 and valleycrimestoppers.org.