DEA Seizes Record Amount of Fentanyl in 2022

The Drug Enforcement Administration this year seized a record amount of fentanyl, including twice as many fentanyl tablets as last year, according to the latest data. 

So far this year, the DEA seized an estimated 379 million fatal doses of fentanyl, enough "to kill everyone in the United States," according to DEA administrator Anne Milgram, including 10,000 pounds of fentanyl in powdered form and 50.6 million tablets.

"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," Milgram said in a statement. "These seizures — enough deadly doses of fentanyl to kill every American — reflect DEA's unwavering commitment to protect Americans and save lives, by tenaciously pursuing those responsible for the trafficking of fentanyl across the United States.

"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." 

The agency noted that fentanyl pills being sold illegally on social media are frequently "made to look identical to real prescription medications — including OxyContin, Percocet, and Xanax — but only contain filler and fentanyl."

The statement adds: "Fake pills are readily found on social media. No pharmaceutical pill bought on social media is safe. The only safe medications are ones prescribed directly to you by a trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in a recent report that drug overdose deaths skyrocketed during the pandemic, jumping from 31 in July 2019 to a high of 87 in May 2021.

The authors wrote: "Drug overdose deaths among adolescents increased substantially beginning in late 2019. Although deaths appear to have begun declining in late 2021, they are still alarmingly higher than in 2019."

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