SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — A Desoto Parish woman and a Bossier Parish man have been arrested in the largest fentanyl seizure in Caddo Parish.

According to the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, 47-year-old Theresa Atkins, of Frierson, along with her passenger, 43-year-old Tanner Raney, of Bossier City, were taken into custody on Friday after four pounds of fentanyl in powder and pill form were found inside her vehicle following a traffic stop at Jewella Ave. and I-20.

Shortly before 3:30 a.m. Louisiana State Police stopped Atkins and searched her vehicle. Troopers also found four pounds of methamphetamine and a gun.

The seizure occurred after Atkins was suspected of distributing large quantities of methamphetamine in Desoto, Bossier, and Caddo parishes and had been targeted for investigation by the DEA and the Desoto Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Atkins and Raney were booked into the Caddo Correctional Center and charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to the DEA, in recent years, illicitly produced fentanyl has been associated with a dramatic increase in overdose fatalities ranging from 2,666 in 2011 to 31,335 in 2018.