Heroin worth $175,000 was discovered in a dumpster in downtown Pittsburgh Monday.
A worker taking out the trash found the drugs behind Seventh Street and called 911.
There were an estimated 500 bricks, or 25,000 stamp bags, in the dumpster.
Pittsburgh police initially responded to the call but turned the case over to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
WPXI's Rick Earle spoke exclusively with U.S. Attorney David Hickton, who has been on the forefront of battling the heroin epidemic.
Hickton called the discovery a rare find.
“That’s a large sum of heroin,” Hickton said. “The person... who discovered the stamp bags of heroin in a duffel bag did the right thing by calling police, and we are grateful for that.”
Hickton suspects the dumpster may have been a drop location.
He’s relieved the worker who found the drugs knew what to do, since there’s always the chance the heroin could be laced with fentanyl.
Hickton said even some DEA agents who have handled heroin have gotten sick.
“Medical people tell me less (heroin) than what you would put (sugar) in a spoon to put in your cup of coffee, that same amount can kill not only one person but several,” Hickton said.
Federal investigators are now working to determine who left the heroin in the dumpster.
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