Lake Elsinore's streets just got a bit cleaner thanks to the Sheriff's Special Enforcement Team. After a tip-off about drug sales in Lake Elsinore and Wildomar, the deputies orchestrated an exhaustive investigation into the narcotics trade's local underbelly. This ultimately culminated in a sizeable bust on May 22, 2024, in the area known as Lakeland Village, authorities reported.

Executing a search warrant on Pamela Road, the officers hit the jackpot, uncovering what turned out to be a fentanyl-laced bonanza with street value running into tens of thousands of dollars. Their hall included over 9,000 M-30 pills believed to be spiked with the deadly drug, and more than 5 ounces of pure fentanyl — enough to quickly and easily send users to their graves. Sergeant Jarrod Meissen highlighted the lethality of the substances, noting, "one M-30 pill or a single grain of pure fentanyl has the potential to cause an overdose and even death."

Gregory Lee Evans and Shannon Van Leeuwen, the two Lake Elsinore residents caught in the eye of this narcotic storm, are now facing the music at Cois Byrd Detention Center. Their charges are spread across the spectrum of narcotics-related offenses. As the lawkeepers dig deeper, this emerges as a part of an ongoing narrative that authorities hope will turn the tide in the war against the fentanyl crisis.