Three more people have been charged in connection with the seizure of 280,000 fentanyl pills — described as the largest such seizure in state history — that were sent from Arizona to the Twin Cities metro area tucked inside stuffed animals.

The seizure, which amounts to 66 pounds of fentanyl pills with an estimated value of over $2.2 million, was the result of an investigation by the Washington County Drug Task Force, Dakota County Drug Task Force, Ramsey County Violent Crime Enforcement Team, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations.

Nine people, all from either St. Paul or Minneapolis, have been charged in U.S. District Court in St. Paul with conspiracy to distribute the potent synthetic opioid between August 2022 and December 2023. Several of the defendants traveled to Phoenix to obtain fentanyl pills from suppliers, hid the pills inside stuffed animals and mailed them to addresses in and around the Twin Cities, the charges say.

Prosecutors announced this week charges against Da’Shawn Natori Domena, 24, and Phyu Win Jame, 27, both of Minneapolis, and Amaya Tiffany-Nicole Mims, 23, of St. Paul.

The others, charged in December, are Cornell Montez Chandler Jr., 24, Robiel Lee Williams, 23, Quijuan Hosea Bankhead, 30, and Fo’Tre Devine White, 30, all of St. Paul; and Stardasha Christina Davenport-Mounger, 24, and Shardai Rayshell Allen, 24, both of Minneapolis.

White was also charged with possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of a machine gun. The indictment alleges that White possessed two pistols, one of which was equipped with an auto sear, or “switch,” which converts semiautomatic firearms to fully automatic weapons. White is banned from possessing firearms because of a 2021 felony conviction out of Lake County, Ind., according to charges.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, just 2 milligrams of fentanyl is considered a potentially lethal dose.

Minnesota had 1,002 opioid-involved overdose deaths in 2022, according to the state Department of Health, and fentanyl contributed to 92 percent of them.

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