California Highway Patrol officers seized approximately 42,000 fentanyl pills during a traffic stop on Highway 101 near Garberville early Saturday morning. The seizure is the largest single fentanyl bust in Humboldt County history.

The stop occurred at 2:14 a.m. near the Benbow exit. CHP Officer Daniela Ruiz initiated the stop on a 2019 Nissan Altima with Oregon plates for a broken taillight.

Two men were in the vehicle. The driver was identified as Jorge Luis Mendez-Padilla, 28, of Sacramento. The passenger was identified as Kevin Ray Brooks, 31, also of Sacramento. Neither had a Humboldt County address.

What officers found

Ruiz requested a K-9 unit after observing “indicators of criminal activity” during the initial contact. The K-9 alerted on the trunk.

Officers found the pills in vacuum-sealed bags inside two duffel bags. CHP estimated 42,000 pills total, pending exact count by the crime lab. The pills were stamped to resemble oxycodone M30 tablets. Field testing confirmed the presence of fentanyl.

No firearms were recovered.

Both men were arrested and booked into Humboldt County Correctional Facility. Mendez-Padilla faces charges of transportation of a controlled substance for sale and possession for sale. Brooks faces the same charges.

Bail was set at $500,000 each.

Connection to larger operations

CHP spokesperson Lieutenant Marcus Hale said the seizure is consistent with trafficking patterns involving pills manufactured outside the region and transported north on the 101 corridor.

“This was not a local operation,” Hale said. “The quantity and packaging indicate distribution-level trafficking. We are working with the DEA and the Humboldt County Drug Task Force to determine the intended destination.”

Hale declined to say whether the pills were headed for Humboldt County or points further north.

The 101 corridor through Southern Humboldt has been identified in multiple federal reports as a primary transit route for narcotics moving between the Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest. Last year, CHP and allied agencies made 17 significant narcotics seizures along the stretch between Laytonville and the Oregon border.

Local impact

The Humboldt County Drug Task Force reported 23 fentanyl-related overdose deaths in the county in 2025. That number was 18 in 2024 and 11 in 2023.

Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal issued a statement Saturday afternoon. “This seizure represents a significant interdiction,” Honsal said. “Forty-two thousand pills, at two milligrams of fentanyl each, is enough to kill every resident of this county several times over.”

Anyone with information related to fentanyl trafficking in Humboldt County is asked to contact the Drug Task Force tip line at (707) 268-3643.