More fentanyl than heroin stopped at border for first time ever as US overdoses rage

WaEx:

For the first time in America’s history, federal law enforcement stationed at the borders intercepted more smuggled fentanyl than heroin over the last year.

Not only were fentanyl seizures at the highest level ever recorded, but fentanyl overdoses within the United States also hit new highs, indicating the success that transnational criminal organizations had in pushing their deadly products to the public. A DEA investigation this fall found a direct link between criminal drug organizations in Mexico and fentanyl-related overdose deaths.

But drug users are not necessarily choosing to consume fentanyl, which is half the problem for U.S. government efforts to stop this third iteration of the opioid crisis. Street drugs are being laced with fentanyl, making all types of illicit drugs unsafe.

“Everything is potentially deadly right now, and people need to be aware,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told ABC’s This Week in a recent interview. MORE