On Wednesday, June 1st, 2022, at 11:14 pm, a Turlock Police officer in the 900 block of Bethany Ave, Turlock, observed a vehicle violate the California Vehicle Code, so he made a traffic stop on it.

The officer made contact with the vehicle’s occupants, Julio Mancillas, 31, of Turlock, and his 17-year old brother.

Mancillas was found to have a suspended driver’s license, so he was arrested.

A search of Mancillas’ vehicle incident to arrest led to the discovery of narcotics, including fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid typically used to treat patients with chronic severe pain or severe pain after a surgery. It acts similar to morphine, however, is about one hundred times more potent. It’s so potent that one kilogram of it has the ability to kill 500,000 people and one backpack full of it has the ability to kill everyone in the State of California plus more. In 2020, fentanyl killed about 56,000 people in the United States. This number keeps rising each year.

Illicit fentanyl is typically manufactured in foreign countries and is smuggled into the United States through Mexico to be sold on the illegal drug market.

Sometimes, fentanyl is mixed in with other drugs on the illegal drug market to increase their potency. People aren’t told this and commonly overdose on it without even knowing that they’re specifically taking it.

Mancillas was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of child endangerment under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death, possession of a controlled substance, driving with a suspended driver’s license due to a DUI conviction, and violation of post release community supervision.