Sheriff holds press conference following fentanyl bust

TYLER — More details emerged Tuesday at a press conference about a large-scale fentanyl bust this past Friday on I-20 in Smith County. According to our news partner KETK, Sheriff Larry Smith says the false compartment where 42,000 fentanyl pills were found was a hollowed-out battery. “That could’ve been 42,000 deaths right there in the United States,” Smith said. “We got a lot of kids, a lot of adults on drugs. We want to get the word out to them that they need to be careful about taking any tablet such as this.” Smith said a deputy noticed a van with Mexico license plates hauling several motorcycles and a car on a trailer, with another car being hauled behind that. When the driver failed to use a turn signal, the deputy performed a traffic stop, according to the sheriff.

During the traffic stop the single occupant of the vehicle, identified as 33-year-old Erik Marin Islas Angeles of Mexico (pictured), allegedly had three cell phones that were ringing “all the time,” which raised suspicions with the deputy. Angeles was arrested following a search to which authorities say he consented. He was released on a $2 million bond from the Smith County Jail on Tuesday, judicial records show. Speaking after the news conference with KTBB, Smith said one fentanyl incident apparently hit too close to home for comfort. He said authorities believe there was a fentanyl-related death in Smith County within the last two weeks.