New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
DEA: Fake fentanyl-laced pills killing at ‘unprecedented rate’
The Drug Enforcement Administration is warning of an “alarming increase” in the availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine that the agency says have proven to be even more lethal.
The DEA issued a public safety alert on the increase in these pills on Monday. It was the first time the agency issued this type of alert in six years.
The DEA said it seeks to raise public awareness of the nationwide surge in counterfeit pills being mass-produced by criminal drug networks in labs. These pills are deceptively marketed as legitimate prescription pills, but are instead killing unsuspecting individuals at what the DEA calls an “unprecedented rate.”
The agency said the drug networks are domestic and international. The vast majority of counterfeit pills brought into the country are made in Mexico, while China is supplying chemicals for fentanyl manufacturing in Mexico, the DEA said.
These types of pills have been seized by the DEA in every state in the country. More than 9.5 million counterfeit pills have been seized so far this year, the DEA said. That number is greater than the last two years combined.
On Tuesday in Connecticut, authorities seized 5,238 fentanyl pills pressed to look like Xanax pills from a driver who was pulled over in Orange for a motor vehicle violation during a joint law enforcement operation on Interstate 95 in the greater New Haven area. The driver, whose vehicle had Pennsylvania plates, was arrested and taken to Troop G in Bridgeport where he was charged, officials said.
DEA lab tests indicate a “dramatic rise” in the number of pills with at least 2 milligrams of fentanyl, which is considered a lethal dose, the agency said. A deadly dose of fentanyl is small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil.
These pills tend to mimic the appearance of real prescription opioid medications like Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin, Xanax and stimulants like Adderall, the DEA said. The fake pills are easily accessible, often sold on social media and other e-commerce platforms. The DEA said this makes the pills available to anyone with a smartphone, including juveniles.
“The United States is facing an unprecedented crisis of overdose deaths fueled by illegally manufactured fentanyl and methamphetamine,” said Anne Milgram, administrator of the DEA. “Counterfeit pills that contain these dangerous and extremely addictive drugs are more lethal and more accessible than ever before. In fact, DEA lab analyses reveal that two out of every five fake pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose.”
Milgram said the agency is focusing resources on taking down violent drug traffickers that are causing the “greatest harm and posing the greatest threat” to the safety and health of the public.
The drug overdose crisis in the United States is seen as a serious public safety threat, with rates currently reaching the highest level in history, according to the DEA. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated more than 93,000 people died of a drug overdose in the United States last year.
So far this year, the
DEA has seized more than 2,700 guns in connection with drug trafficking investigations. The DEA said that number represents a 30 percent increase since 2019.