The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced the results of a widespread drug operation spanning May to September, resulting in over 10 million fentanyl pills and what they say is 36 million lethal doses of the drug. DEA agents blame the mass production of the majority of these pills on two particular cartels, the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

While scooping up cartel-manufactured fentanyl off the streets sounds like reason to celebrate—keep in mind that this is only half the problem, and as many as 40% of opioid overdose deaths come straight from the doctor with a prescription, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Fentanyl kills indiscriminately, no matter what the source. According to the National Safety Council, young Americans are more likely to die of an opioid overdose than a car crash.

However, it’s highly likely lives were saved in the process during this particular operation. The DEA released the statistics in a September 30 press release.

As part of the One Pill Can Kill initiative—a public Awareness Campaign to educate the public of the dangers of counterfeit pills such as fentanyl—the DEA and its law enforcement partners seized massive quantities of opioid drugs.

How extensive is the opioid epidemic? The DEA seized over 10.2 million fentanyl pills and about 980 pounds of fentanyl powder during the period of May 23 through September 8.

Often, fentanyl is pressed into blue, round pills that appear to be pharmaceutical in nature, so people think they’re safe. Often, they’re not. In addition, they’ve been showing up in different colors, dubbed “rainbow fentanyl” by the media and the DEA itself. Even people with a tolerance to oxycodone or hydrocodone might not stand a chance with fentanyl or its analogs like carfentanil.

According to the DEA’s math, the amount of fentanyl seized is equivalent to over 36 million lethal doses of the drug removed from the supply. DEA agents also seized 338 weapons including rifles, shotguns, pistols, and hand grenades.

“Fentanyl is responsible for killing thousands of people in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV). We are working diligently with our federal, state, and local partners to mitigate this public health crisis,” said Jarod Forget, DEA Washington Division’s Special Agent in Charge. “Our team is actively seizing significant amounts of deadly fentanyl and working hard on impactful operations and community events to halt the distribution of these deadly drugs into our communities. Mexican cartels are pushing deadly fake pills, often laced with fentanyl, into our neighborhoods to exploit the opioid crisis. We will relentlessly pursue criminals who are bringing such deadly drugs and continue to work to keep you and your families safe. Many people who die from fentanyl poisoning unknowingly consumed it mixed into fake pills or other drugs. Our message to the public is that you never can be certain what is in them and that just ‘One Pill Can Kill’.”

Nearly 400 cases were investigated, and 51 cases are linked to overdose poisonings. DEA agents linked 35 of the cases directly to one or both of the primary Mexican cartels responsible for the majority of fentanyl in the United States, which is the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG.

Here’s how things have changed, however: According to the DEA, 129 investigations are linked to social media platforms like Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and TikTok. Anyone in the cannabis industry has seen plugs openly selling all sorts of drugs.

The last time statistics like this were provided was the One Pill Can Kill Phase II results, which were announced by DEA Administrator Anne Milgram last December.

The DEA says that fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat facing this nation. “In 2021, a record number of Americans—107,622—died from a drug poisoning or overdose,” the DEA release reads. “Sixty-six percent of those deaths can be attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.”

The fentanyl problem is highlighted by specific events, including a recent incident in suburban Los Angeles that involved pills laced with fentanyl that were disguised as something else. The Pasadena Police Department seized 328,000 fentanyl pills in a single operation on September 24, bringing their total seized to approximately 708,500 pills. Then just minutes away in Whittier, police seized eight pounds of pills laced with fentanyl.

Additional resources for parents and the community can be found on DEA’s Fentanyl Awareness page, and the DEA created a new resource, “What Every Parent and Caregiver Needs to Know About Fake Pills.” 

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In a campaign to educate parents on the emoji conversations of their children in regards to drug use, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has created a legend for parental reference.

On December 16, the DEA held a press conference featuring DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, who reviewed the dangers of illegal drug use, especially on the nation’s youth. Specifically, as a part of the DEA’s “One Pill Can Kill” Campaign, the conference content reviewed a reference sheet of identifiable emoji compilations.

Entries include Oxycodone, Xanax, Percocet, Adderall, cocaine, meth, heroin, MDMA/mollies, cough syrup and mushrooms, as well as phrases that the DEA identifies as “drug dealer adverting that they sell/dealer,” “bomb ass shit,” “high potency,” “universal for drugs” and “large batch/amount,” according to the DEA’s breakdown. “Do you know the meaning behind certain emojis? Emojis were originally designed to represent an emotion, event or activity, but have recently taken on a language of their own,” the DEA writes. “Criminal organizations, including drug traffickers, have noticed and are using emojis to buy and sell counterfeit pills and other illicit drugs on social media and through e-commerce.”

The emoji combination for “marijuana” includes six characters that some might, or might not, consider applicable in translation (although it’s all about interpretation). “The reference guide is intended to give parents, caregivers and influencers a better sense of how this language is being used in conjunction with illegal drugs,” the DEA writes. “It is important to note, this list is not all-inclusive and the images contained below are a representative sample. Emojis, on their own, should not be indicative of illegal activity, but coupled with a change in behavior; change in appearance; or significant loss/increase in income should be a reason to start an important conversation. We understand initiating those conversations can be difficult so we have resources available at dea.gov/onepill.”

The DEA also provided a PowerPoint presentation regarding a variety of stats and information about black market drug sales and how to identify counterfeit pills. It also included a brief mention of which social platforms are most commonly used, referred to as “Cases involving criminal drug network activity on social media platforms,” the top three of which are SnapChat, Facebook Messenger and Instagram. The emojis for cannabis in the presentation differed slightly from the provided infographic.

Milgram wrote in her press conference statement the tragedy of youth deaths due to drug overdoses such as fentanyl produced by Mexican drug cartels. “What is equally troubling is that the cartels have harnessed the perfect drug delivery tool: social media… social media applications that are available on every smartphone in the United States. Eighty-five percent of all Americans have smartphones: that is about 280 million smartphones.”

Cannabis is only mentioned once in her statement, specifically in regards to the DEA illegal drug haul over the past few months. “In total, between September 29 and December 14 of this year, DEA seized over 8.4 million fake pills, over 5,400 pounds of methamphetamine, and hundreds of pounds each of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, often in the same places that we seized fentanyl. During this surge, DEA has arrested 776 people and seized 288 firearms connected to these drug seizures,” Milgram stated. She concludes the statement with a message urging citizens to “Know the dangers and accessibility of deadly drugs online.”

A recent report from the Mexico Defense Secretary state that Mexican cartels are beginning to shift from cannabis and opium production to that of synthetic drugs, partially due to the legal status of cannabis in many states in the US. Fentanyl is now the leading causes of death for Americans between ages 18-45, as according to 2019-2020 data collected from the CDC and presented by Families Against Fentanyl. More people died from fentanyl poisoning than suicide, COVID-19 and vehicle accidents.

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