WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Calling the haul “unprecedented,” DC Police said they intercepted a large shipment of synthetic drugs this week with the “Bizarro” label on them headed for a warehouse in Northwest Washington. The shipment contained 116 kilos of the drug, about 19,000 packets with a total street value of approximately $2.3 million.

“This is the largest single seizure of synthetic drugs that we have had in the District,” Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham said. “A seizure of this size, which is unprecedented, is going to have a significant impact on the amount of this stuff that we have on our streets.”

Synthetic drugs have taken part of the blame for the increase in violent crime the District has seen this summer.

“Most of this was targeted for the streets of DC. It looks like it was something that was going to be distributed mostly, if not exclusively, in the District,” Newsham said.

At the same time, police also put on display dozens of guns that were seized during last weekend’s All Hands on Deck initiative.

“They’re mostly semiautomatic handguns. You have a few rifles. A number of these have the high-capacity magazines,” Newsham said. “This is the source of the violence in our city. It’s these illegal firearms in the hands of people that are inclined to use them. I’m convinced that this and violent repeat offenders are the two things that have caused the uptick of crime here in the city.”

Police Chief Cathy Lanier was originally scheduled to speak at the press conference, but Newsham said she was “called to the Mayor’s office” shortly beforehand to brief her on plans for Pope Francis’ visit later this month.

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