SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – San Francisco officials are reporting that they have made a significant bust against of over a dozen drug dealers that netted multiple pounds of narcotics.

In a partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, San Francisco police arrested 18 alleged mid-level traffickers that operated in Oakland and city’s Tenderloin neighborhood.

Nearly 17 pounds of illegal narcotics — including 12.5 pounds of fentanyl — three firearms, and two high-capacity magazines each holding 30 rounds of ammunition were seized and nearly $27,000.

With an estimated minimum lethal dose of just 2 milligrams, the operational haul of fentanyl theoretically represents enough to fatally overdose 2.85 million people.

Other seizures included approximately 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 1.5 pounds of cocaine base, approximately 1.25 pounds of heroin and 22.8 grams of oxycodone.

“The staggering loss of life we’ve seen due to drug overdoses is a public health calamity San Franciscans haven’t witnessed since the height of the AIDS crisis,” said San Francisco Chief of Police Bill Scott. “Our street drug trade has been nearly twice as deadly as COVID-19 in San Francisco. While the primary chemical culprit is fentanyl, drug-related gun violence is beginning to take an increasingly troubling toll.”

The investigation found that  investigation that Southern California-based drug trafficking organizations were bulk sourcing fentanyl and other narcotics to mid-level traffickers based largely in Oakland, Calif., who in turn supplied street-level dealers in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. In some instances, mid-level suppliers themselves engaged in street-level trafficking.

11 search warrants — six state and five federal — at nine different locations were served over a three day period last week.

Investigators believe that the heightened prevalence of fentanyl trafficking is largely fueling a sharp increase in gun violence in the Tenderloin.

Fatal and nonfatal shootings are up more than 71 percent compared to this time last year. This time last year there were 21 incidents compared to 26 this year.

Through the end of September 2021, 511 people have died as the result of drug overdoses, primarily due to fentanyl. San Francisco’s total 2020 death toll due to accidental drug overdoses was 712.