U.S. Fentanyl Seizures Jump Dramatically

The amount of fentanyl-laced pills seized jumped 50-fold from 2018-2021. This comes as a record 105,752 Americans died from overdose in one year.

D.E.A. Special agent Keith Martin of the Detroit field office says the amount of fentanyl they’re finding has jumped dramatically. 

"Last year for example a seizure of 100 fentanyl pills would be a good seizure," Martin said. "Then we started seizing a thousand, then ten thousand.” 

Illegally-made fentanyl mostly comes from Mexico. Drug cartels put fentanyl in counterfeit pills, often passing them off as Adderall, hydrocodone or Percocet. Even in small amounts, it can be deadly.