JACKSON TWP — Hundreds of bags of a suspected deadly synthetic opioid were seized Tuesday during a drug sting by state narcotics agents, authorities said.

Officers with the Attorney General's Office Drug Task Force arrested Warren Carl Smith Jr., 25, of Pittsburgh, who was found with bags of suspected pure fentanyl — enough to make about 400 individual-dose stamp bags.

He was arrested about 3:40 p.m. at the Park and Ride at Interstate 79 and Route 528 in Jackson Township.

Smith is charged with drug trafficking and is being held in Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail.

He was the target of a controlled buy conducted by Cranberry Township police Sgt. Detective Matthew Irvin, who was working with the attorney general's Bureau of Narcotics and other task force officers, court documents said.

A confidential informant was also used in the operation.

The informant by cell phone, according to investigators, arranged with Smith a not-so-ordinary deal: 400 stamp bags of fentanyl along with crack cocaine in exchange for a pound of marijuana.

The two agreed to make the swap at the park and ride.

With officers nearby conducting surveillance, authorities said, Smith drove up in a red Hyundai sedan and parked next to the informant's vehicle.

Moments later, officers converged on Smith and his car.

Irvin, in his criminal complaint, described finding Smith with 23 individual bags filled with a white powder substance believed to be fentanyl. The suspected fentanyl “could amount to approximately 400 doses” of the drug, according to court documents.

Fentanyl, one of the most potent forms of opioid painkillers, is responsible for numerous overdose deaths in Butler County and across the nation.

The drug, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine.

Because of the high it offers and its relatively cheap cost, Butler County law enforcement officers acknowledge, more and more users are asking for fentanyl instead of heroin, despite its dangers.

Along with the suspected fentanyl, officers found Smith with suspected crack.

He made no statement to officers following his arrest, investigators said.

District Judge Wayne Seibel arraigned Smith on two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and one count of criminal use of a communication facility, all felonies.

Additionally, he is charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

His preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 27 at the office of District Judge Wayne Seibel in Evans City. Online court dockets did not indicate if he has an attorney.