MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Murfreesboro Police seized 5 kilograms (roughly 11 pounds) of heroin this past week and arrested two women on Felony Possession charges.
Colorado residents Elizabeth M. Castillom, 30, and Rosalinda Vallejo, 45, were booked into the Rutherford County Jail following their arrests Saturday. They're being held on $1 million bond each.
The arrests and seizure were part of a joint operation by Murfreesboro detectives and agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. TBI Director Mark Gwyn was in Murfreesboro for a press conference announcing the drug bust.
“Anytime you have five kilograms of heroin seized, that’s a major drug quantity in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, or New York. Five kilograms is a large quantity.”
Gwyn says 5 kilograms is enough to provide thousands of street level doses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. He says heroin is largely responsible for the rise in overdose deaths being seen at Tennessee hospitals.
“The troubling part is that we are seeing this drug being laced or cut with this other drug called fentanyl that is leading to a massive amount of overdoses."
Gwyn says fentanyl is up to 100 times more potent than heroin and highly addictive.
Castillo and Vallejo are scheduled to make an initial appearance in Rutherford County General Sessions Court March 2.