DEA: Colorado breaks yearly record for fentanyl seizures with one month left in 2024

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Rocky Mountain Field Division has seized 2.7 million fentanyl pills so far this year, breaking a record with one month left to go in 2024.

Testing reveals five out of every 10 pills contain a fatal dose of fentanyl for a first-time user.

Although the DEA is proud of the work it is doing to tackle the fentanyl crisis, agents say these numbers are nothing to celebrate.

“That’s what we’re laser-focused on — the two cartels most responsible for trafficking this poison, the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel. Here, we’re seizing more, but it really doesn’t matter if we continue still to lose so many lives each year,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Olesky.

Olesky said most of the pills recovered were pressed to look like blue prescription Oxycodone pills.

A new concerning trend the agency is seeing is carfentanil, an animal tranquilizer one hundred times more potent than fentanyl. The DEA seized 250,000 pills containing carfentanil on the Western Slope in November.

“With carfentanil, it’s a synthetic opiate so it’s highly addictive, it’s potent, but it’s also cheap for the cartels to utilize this drug and manufacture. And so the one thing that the cartels are motivated by is money. It’s greed,” Olesky said.

The DEA said more work needs to be done because while other states are seeing a large decline in drug seizures and overdose deaths, Colorado’s numbers are not following those trends.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Paris Roof Restoration Recognized as UNESCO World Heritage

PARIS – From before sunrise to after sunset, in slippery winters and…

Local prosecutor works to free four men wrongly convicted in 1991 Lorain murder.

County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson stated that the main witness against the four…

UAP Introduces Affordable Food Trucks in Orange County to Help Those in Need

If you’ve been to a grocery store recently, you’ve likely noticed that…

Police in Denver are looking into a shooting close to Coors Field.

DENVER — The Denver Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred…

OPEC+ oil group deals with stable crude prices as US consumers benefit from lower gas costs

FRANKFURT – The OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries faces a decision…

Vietnam suspends operations of Chinese online store Temu

HANOI – Vietnam has suspended the operations of Chinese online retailer Temu…

18 individuals linked to Cleveland gang face charges in connection to organized crime operation

‘The Fully Blooded Felons resorted to the worst kinds of violent acts,…

“Accuracy Check: Six States Reassure No Ban on RV Sales in 2025”

Manufacturers are predicting limited availability in states that are implementing new clean…

The lighting ceremony for the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in NYC

In New York, Rockefeller Center’s famous Christmas tree sparkled with fifty thousand…

Release of Extinct Hawaiian Crow on Maui After Decades

The birds, which went extinct in the wild in 2002, are the…

Man from Avon Lake Faces Attempted Murder Charges for Allegedly Stabbing Wife: Details from Police

The 78-year-old suspect has been charged with attempted murder and felonious assault.…

Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ companion book sells over 800,000 copies in the first week

Despite selling the “Eras Tour Book” exclusively at Target, Swift’s sales continued…