Houston DEA Seized Over 7 Million Deadly Doses of Fentanyl in 2022

Different colored fentanyl pills seized by authorities in a file photo taken on Oct. 7, 2022. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Houston Field Division on Wednesday announced massive seizures of fentanyl powder and fentanyl-laced pills accounting for more than 7 million deadly doses of fentanyl.

According to a Dec. 28 statement, the agency has contained more than 670,00 fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills and more than 230 pounds of fentanyl powder this year, dealing a blow to the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels, two criminal groups that are responsible for trafficking most of the fentanyl into the United States after it is mass-produced at secret factories across Mexico with chemicals sourced largely from China.

“The men and women of the DEA Houston Field Division tirelessly worked to eradicate over 7 million deadly doses of fentanyl from our communities across the southern, eastern, and western parts of the state,” said Daniel C. Comeaux, a special agent in charge of the DEA Houston Field Division.

“These seizures are a testament to the imminent threat the Sinaloa and Jalisco (CJNG) Cartels continue to pose and our relentless determination to go after anyone that brings this poison to our cherished communities,” Comeaux said.

Fentanyl is the “deadliest drug threat” currently facing Americans, according to the DEA.

The highly addictive man-made opioid is 50 times more potent than heroin and is often disguised and sold by drug dealers as prescription medications like Percocet and Xanax. This has led to accidental overdoses when people didn’t realize they were taking the powerful opioid.

“Just two milligrams of fentanyl, the small amount that fits on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially deadly dose,” the agency said.

Last week, as the year is coming to an end, the DEA announced it seized over 50.6 million fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder in 2022, which represents more than 379 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl.

“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,” said Anne Milgram, administrator of the DEA.

“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,” Milgram said.

At a Brookings Institution virtual event in March, Vanda Felbab-Brown, author of a report on China’s role in fentanyl supply chains, made it clear that China’s role easily exceeds that of other countries and governments.

“China remains the principal supplier of precursor chemicals for the production of fentanyl not just in the United States, but across all of North America. This includes Canada, which is now dealing with as devastating an opioid crisis as the United States, and we are also seeing the spread of fentanyl in various parts of Mexico,” she said.

By Felbab-Brown’s estimate, 78,388 of the 104,288 overdose deaths in the United States between October 2020 and September 2021 are attributable to opioids.

Michael Washburn contributed to this report.

From NTD News