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An Elkmont man was arrested Monday with 78 fake Xanax pills laced with fentanyl, a powerful and potentially deadly painkiller. (Limestone County Sheriff's Office)
A Limestone County man was arrested Monday after a traffic stop led deputies to confiscate a large number of fake anxiety pills laced with a painkiller about 100 times more powerful than morphine.
Joshua Leon Molt, 25, of Elkmont is charged with drug trafficking and unlawful possession of marijuana. He was being held Tuesday morning in the Limestone County jail.
Joshua Molt (Limestone County Sheriff's Office)
Molt was spotted early Monday afternoon driving erratically near the intersection of Mooresville Road and Thach Road, according to Limestone County Sheriff's Office officials. When he was pulled over, he appeared to be under the influence of something and the deputy detected a suspicious odor in the vehicle.
Inside the vehicle the deputy located an unmarked bottle containing 78 pills that appeared to be Xanax bars, as well as a bottle containing 3.5 grams of marijuana, the Sheriff's Office reports. The pills looked suspicious, however, with markings and a thickness inconsistent with the legally prescribed anxiety medication.
Narcotics investigators brought into the situation tested the pills in a controlled environment and determined that they contained fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine and 40 to 50 times stronger than pure heroin.
Fentanyl, which typically is prescribed in a time-release patch that absorbs slowly into a person's skin, can be fatal in very small doses.