--- description: Federal agents arrested 50 people in a drug raid in Lawrence, Massachusetts. title: Federal Agents in Massachusetts Seize Enough Fentanyl to Kill 'Half the State' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Crime](/tag/crime/) ## Crime Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Federal Agents in Massachusetts Seize Enough Fentanyl to Kill 'Half the State' by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Oct 5, 2018 12:38 PM CUT by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Oct 5, 2018 12:38 PM CUT Federal agents arrested 50 people after a drug raid in Lawrence, Mass. Thursday. “During today’s operation, we seized some guns, but we also seized over 10 kilograms of fentanyl,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said at a news conference. “The amount of fentanyl we have seized today could kill half the state.” Massachusetts has a population of 6.86 million. The raid was a part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program, which aims to reduce violent crime, [Boston 25 News reports](https://www.boston25news.com/news/us-attorney-amount-of-fentanyl-seized-in-lawrence-could-kill-half-the-state-/846808815 "undefined"). Lelling said Lawrence is a hot spot for illegal drugs due to its location. “Lawrence is a clearing house for illegal drugs pouring into New Hampshire and Maine via I-93 and I-495,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5416579/drug-raid-massachusetts-fentanyl/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5416579/drug-raid-massachusetts-fentanyl/"},"headline":"Federal Agents in Massachusetts Seize Enough Fentanyl to Kill 'Half the State'","datePublished":"2018-10-05T12:38:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:39:17.614Z","description":"50 people were arrested in the raid","url":"https://time.com/5416579/drug-raid-massachusetts-fentanyl/","keywords":["Crime","Massachusetts","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/crime/","name":"Crime"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5416579/drug-raid-massachusetts-fentanyl/","name":"Federal Agents in Massachusetts Seize Enough Fentanyl to Kill 'Half the State'"}}]}] ```