According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), fentanyl is 50 times more addictive and potent than heroin, making it America’s deadliest drug threat. Just two milligrams of fentanyl are enough to prove fatal, and more than 379 million potentially fatal doses of fentanyl have been confiscated. Each potent lethal dose of fentanyl that can instantly kill a human is small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil.
Last year, over 100,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses, and nearly two-thirds were attributed to fentanyl. So, U.S. federal narcotics agents said the U.S. had set a goal of banning large doses of deadly fentanyl in 2022 to save the lives of every American teen and older.
The agency has learned from credible sources that most fentanyl is trafficked into the United States from Mexico. The agency believes most drugs are mass-produced in clandestine factories in Mexico, where the Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels use chemicals sourced from the chain.
Fortunately, the amount of fentanyl that was enough to kill all 330 million Americans was seized in the United States this year, according to the DEA. Although the DEA claims it has seized more than 10,000lb (4,500kg) of fentanyl and more than 50.6m fentanyl pills in the U.S., that’s more than double the number of pills the agency seized in 2021. Additionally, the DEA disclosed the seizure of 131,000lb of methamphetamine, over 4,300lb of heroin, and over 444,000lb of cocaine. It has also been found that various prescription painkillers, like fentanyl, are being produced in the country.
“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,” said DEA Administrator Ann Milgram.
