The Drug Enforcement Administration has seized more than 50.6 million fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills and 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, over 379 million doses in total, thus far in 2022.
“In the past year, the men and women of the DEA have relentlessly worked to seize over 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl from communities across the country. These seizures — enough deadly doses of fentanyl to kill every American — reflect DEA’s unwavering commitment to protect Americans,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a release on Tuesday.
The agency pins the biggest blame for the trade in fentanyl on two Mexican cartels, who control factories that use Chinese-provided chemicals to manufacture fentanyl.
“DEA’s top operational priority is to defeat the two Mexican drug cartels — the Sinaloa and Jalisco (CJNG) Cartels — that are primarily responsible for the fentanyl that is killing Americans today,” Ms. Milgram continued.
The more than 50 million fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl seized this year, more than double the amount seized in 2021, were sold to unwitting users as brand names like OxyContin, Percocet, and Xanax.
Six out of ten fake pills contained a potentially lethal dose, according to the DEA.
The DEA also seized other drugs in 2022, including more than 444,000 pounds of cocaine, nearly 131,000 pounds of methamphetamine, and more than 4,300 pounds of heroin.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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