The leading U.S. drug enforcement agency issued an unprecedented warning to law enforcement nationwide to brace for a spike in “fentanyl-related mass-overdose” deaths as Mexican cartels push the drug into the United States.
The Drug Enforcement Administration sent a letter to federal, state, and local law enforcement departments nationwide Wednesday, alerting officials they should prepare not only for deaths caused by fentanyl to rise but also for mass-casualty events in which a group of people dies as a result of knowingly or unknowingly overdosing.
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“Fentanyl is killing Americans at an unprecedented rate,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram in a statement. “Already this year, numerous mass-overdose events have resulted in dozens of overdoses and deaths. Drug traffickers are driving addiction, and increasing their profits, by mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs. Tragically, many overdose victims have no idea they are ingesting deadly fentanyl, until it’s too late.”
A mass-overdose incident occurs when three or more people overdose at the same place and time. These types of incidents have occurred in Austin, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Omaha, Nebraska; and other cities this year.
The DEA and sheriffs whose comments were included in the federal announcement did not elaborate on how fentanyl was being smuggled into the country. Federal data show U.S. border officials seized more fentanyl at the nation’s borders in fiscal 2021 than any year on record. The uptick in seized fentanyl indicates cartels that manufacture the drug and push it into the U.S. are moving it over the border at higher rates, making it more widely available.
Because just a few grains of the substance is all it takes for a user to feel its effect, its value per ounce is higher than other drugs, such as cocaine or methamphetamine. For example, the DEA states two milligrams is enough to kill someone who inhales, consumes, or injects it. U.S. Customs and Border Protection seizures last year prevented 11,200 pounds of fentanyl from reaching the streets — or 2.5 billion potentially fatal doses of fentanyl from entering communities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period leading up to April, up from 78,000 the previous year. More teenagers in Pima County, Arizona, died last year from fentanyl overdoses than from car crashes, suicide, or the coronavirus, according to the governor.
“Fentanyl poisonings are at an all-time high,” said Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead. “These are not isolated incidents. These are happening in every state and every county in America, leaving behind grieving families. Let us be clear: These poisonings are part of a strategic maneuver by the cartels and it must be stopped.”
Sheriff Dennis Lemma, the president of the Major County Sheriffs of America, called for the U.S. to begin treating fentanyl-induced fatalities as murders, not passive overdoses.
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“We must utilize all available resources to combat the opioid and fentanyl epidemic that continues to plague this great nation,” Lemma said in a statement. “In addition to those resources, we must shift how we respond to an overdose, no longer treating them as accidental deaths, but instead as a homicide crime scene. These individuals are victims of a greater problem, and we are committed to putting an end to these deaths.”
