The US Drug Enforcement Administration announced that it seized more than 50.6 million fentanyl-containing “fake prescription pills” and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder during the 2022 calendar year, amounting to more than 379 million potentially lethal doses of the dangerous drug, according to the DEA laboratory.
According to the DEA’s news release, fentanyl “is a highly addictive man-made opioid that is 50 times more strong than heroin,” and a mere two milligrams of the drug is considered a potentially deadly dose.
“These seizures – enough lethal doses of fentanyl to kill every American – reflect the DEA’s unwavering commitment to protecting Americans and saving lives by tenaciously pursuing those responsible for fentanyl trafficking across the United States,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a press release. “The DEA’s top operational objective is to combat the Sinaloa and Jalisco (CJNG) Cartels, which are primarily responsible for the fentanyl that is killing Americans today.”
According to the press release, “the majority of the fentanyl smuggled by the Sinaloa and CJNG Cartels is mass-produced at secret Mexican factories using chemicals primarily sourced from China.”
According to the DEA, laboratory testing this year discovered that six out of ten fentanyl-containing fake prescription pills contained a potentially lethal amount of fentanyl. The government agency also stated that it seized more than twice as many fentanyl-laced pills in 2022 as it did in 2021.
According to the DEA, the pills are designed to seem like authentic prescriptions but contain filler and fentanyl and are frequently fatal.
This year, the DEA has also seized about 131,000 pounds of methamphetamine, over 4,300 pounds of heroin, and over 444,000 pounds of cocaine.
