A man who used Snapchat to sell fake oxycodone pills that actually contained fentanyl—leading to the death of a teenage girl as well as several other overdoses—faces 20 years in prison.

Jeremial Lee Leach, 20, of Evansville, Indiana, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to one count of Distribution of Fentanyl Resulting in Death, one count of distribution of fentanyl, and one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury.

Michael Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Indianapolis, and U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers for the Southern District of Indiana released an announcement on May 17 describing the ordeal and the consequences.

Leach sold fentanyl on Snapchat as “Mel,” resulting in at least three overdoses, one of which resulted in the death of a 19-year-old woman. “Mel” sold small blue pills marked with M 30 which is supposed to indicate they contain oxycodone hydrochloride—i.e. sold as Oxycontin, Reltebon, Zomestine, etc. Researchers call fake M 30 pills as “Dirty 30s,” and they’re highly dangerous—the slightest miscalculation of fentanyl can easily stop breathing.

“This young woman should be alive today. Mr. Leach pushed deadly poison over social media, ending a teenager’s life far too early, and risking many more,” said U.S. Attorney Myers. “Fentanyl traffickers commit their crimes with utter disregard for the lives of our friends and neighbors or the harm they cause to families in our community. I commend the outstanding work of the DEA, the Evansville Police Department, the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force, and our federal prosecutors to secure some measure of justice for the victims of this fentanyl dealer. The sentence imposed here should serve as a warning: these poisons kill—and selling them will earn you decades in federal prison.”

On June 25, 2022, in the late hours of the night, officers with the Evansville Police Department (EPD) responded to a call about an overdose from a residence on Wedeking Avenue. The first woman was lucky—and responders were able to revive her with naloxone. 

But within hours, at approximately 10:55 a.m. the next morning, EPD officers responded to the same residence for the overdose of another woman, who was only 19 years old, who subsequently died. The coroner found a fake oxycodone pill containing fentanyl when examining the body. The cause of both overdoses was determined to be fentanyl intoxication.

But “Mel” on Snapchat wasn’t done dealing his fake oxycodone pills.

On Aug. 20, 2022, EPD officers were dispatched to a restaurant located on Hirschland Road concerning an overdose. There, the officers found a woman hunched over, falling out of consciousness. But she was also lucky and was revived with naloxone and the woman regained consciousness. The woman told police that she thought she had simply taken a 30 mg tablet of oxycodone, which would not have caused an overdose. The woman’s companion, identified as “Leach,” supplied the pill at a residence on Shanklin Avenue. It was again traced to “Mel” after officers with the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force set up two more drug deals a few months later.

Police then executed a search warrant at Leach’s residence on Shanklin Avenue, where officers found 33 blue pills marked “30,” a digital scale, two 9mm pistols, and approximately $1,843 in cash.

“The sentence imposed on Mr. Leach is righteous and justified. Mr. Leach utilized social media platforms to advertise the sale of fentanyl and continued distributing the poisonous fentanyl even though it had already caused fatal and near fatal overdoses. The DEA would like to extend their deepest condolences to the Duncan family and all families who have lost a loved one to a fentanyl poising,” said DEA ASAC Gannon. “DEA remains committed to working hand in hand with our state, local and federal partners in order to keep our communities safe.  DEA commends the outstanding work by the Evansville Police Department, The Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force and the United States Attorney’s Office.”

‘Hit Me Up’ for Weed on Snapchat

A much lesser “threat” on Snapchat is the sale of weed. A woman was busted in 2018 for setting up her weed business on Snapchat (which is admittedly much safer than selling fentanyl.)

The Beatrice Daily Sun reported in 2018 that Nebraska authorities were tipped off about a Snapchat video made by a woman named Madison D. Carlson. In the video, she held a large bag of cannabis, with a corresponding caption reading “Hit me up.”

Following the post, someone snitched, and authorities went to Carlson’s residence around 9:30 p.m. and immediately noticed two cars in a nearby alley with their lights on. In one vehicle, police found Carson with one female minor. According to police documents, the car reeked of weed. In the other, a male juvenile, who, upon further inspection, was carrying a concealed bag of marijuana in his waistband.

The two female accomplices told police they had just gotten rid of the pot until Carlson was removed from the vehicle, and eventually forked over an additional 32 grams and $80 in cash. Since minors were involved, Carlson also faced serious charges, even though cannabis is not capable of causing bodily injury in the same way that fentanyl is.

Plugs can be found on just about any social media platform, but especially when it comes to pills, buyer beware, as deadly counterfeit pills abound.

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The DEA issued a letter Monday directed at online retailers selling pill presses, informing them that they are required to report sales of these presses to the DEA.

According to the DEA, pill presses are commonly used to disguise the deadly opioid fentanyl by replicating existing prescription medications. These replicated pills are then sold to people who are typically unaware they’re buying fentanyl. These pill presses are incredibly easy to find online and sell for as little as 40 dollars. This, in part, has fueled a scourge of overdoses in the last several years, 110,757 in 2022 alone by the DEA’s count.

“With these tools, criminal actors are able to produce pills that look like legitimate prescription medication—like oxycodone, Xanax, and Adderall—but are not,” the DEA said. “Those pills actually contain fentanyl and other deadly drugs.  Criminals then sell those pills on social media and in our communities, often to people who do not know that the pills are not real or that they contain deadly drugs.”

The DEA implicitly stated that pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act, e-commerce retailers responsible for selling these pill presses are required to keep records of everybody who buys and sells a press, and also required to report this information to the DEA.

“DEA has found that pill presses and stamps that can be used to make fentanyl pills are being offered for sale on various e-commerce platforms.  E-commerce entities selling pill press machines are generally ‘regulated persons’ under the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 802(38), and therefore, subject to the recordkeeping, identification, and reporting requirements of 21 U.S.C. § 830,” the DEA said. “As regulated entities, e-commerce platforms are required to comply with CSA recordkeeping and reporting requirements on the distribution, importation, and exportation of pill press machines.  This means that they must collect information on the buyer and seller and provide notice to the DEA of any sale, import, export, or transfer.”

The DEA said that the vast majority of these fake pills are produced by two particular Mexican cartels. The United States government has put increasing pressure on Mexico in recent years to curb the flow of fentanyl, including fentanyl disguised in these fake pills, from crossing over the United States Mexico border. Even after signs were posted all over Sinaloa appearing to ban the production and sale of fentanyl by the authority of the cartels, fentanyl overdoses and seizures have not slowed down at all.

“The drug cartels primarily responsible for manufacturing fentanyl and smuggling it into the United States are the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel.  These cartels, their members and associates, and other drug traffickers are using pill presses to shape fentanyl powder into pills, and they are using stamps to imprint markings and logos onto those pills as they are pressed,” the DEA said.

According to the DEA, over 79 million fake fentanyl-containing pills were seized in 2023, which marked a 33% increase over pill seizures in 2022. DEA lab tests have shown that 70% of seized pills are pressed and contain fentanyl. Seventy percent of all drug overdoses in 2022 were also due to ingestion of fentanyl.

“Drug traffickers are killing Americans by selling fentanyl hidden in fake pills made to look like real prescription medicines. This is possible because drug traffickers are able to buy the tools they need, like pill presses and stamps, online,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “E-commerce platforms cannot turn a blind eye to the fentanyl crisis and to the sale of pill presses on their platforms.  They must do their part to protect the public, and when they do not, DEA will hold them accountable.”

The DEA said that they launched the Industry Liaison Project in 2019, in which they communicated with over two dozen of the largest online retailers about pill press sales on their websites. They said that several, including Amazon and Etsy, banned the sale of pill presses on their platforms outright. However, as the hyperlink I included at the top of this article proves, dozens and dozens of pill presses are very much still for sale on Amazon. I also found several pill presses for sale on Etsy with about five seconds of effort on Google.

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The DEA has rescinded a 2023 directive which previously ordered a pharmaceutical company to shutter operations after they were found to have helped perpetuate the nationwide opioid crisis.

Morris & Dickson, a multi-billion dollar Big Pharma giant which has been in business since 1841 will be permitted to continue selling drugs to Americans as per the result of a settlement reached with the DEA on Wednesday. This comes just under a year after the pharmaceutical wholesaler had their license revoked for continuing to produce and distribute suspicious shipments of controlled substances for years after a judge recommended their license be revoked for “cavalier disregard” of controlled substance laws. They also failed to report thousands of shipments of hydrocodone and oxycodone to the DEA. 

“Of all the cases I handled as an administrative law judge for the DEA, Morris & Dickson’s violations were the most blatant and egregious,” Judge Charles Dorman told the Associated Press. “In addition, I saw no real acceptance of responsibility for their violations.”

According to the DEA, Morris & Dickson will pay a $19 million fine and submit to heightened reporting requirements for five years as well as forfeit one of their two DEA Certificates of Registration, but they will be permitted to continue producing controlled substances from schedule two to five of the Controlled Substances Act. They also admitted all wrongdoing for their past actions.

“Drug distributors like Morris & Dickson have a responsibility to protect the safety and health of customers and maintain effective controls against diversion of highly addictive controlled substances. At the height of the opioid crisis, Morris & Dickson failed to uphold that responsibility, and turned a blind eye as thousands of unusually large orders for hydrocodone and oxycodone went out the door,” said DEA spokesperson Katherine Pfaff. “Today, Morris & Dickson takes an important first step by admitting wrongdoing and paying for its misconduct, and today’s settlement will ensure that such irresponsible practices will not continue in the future.”

Morris and Dickson’s legal wrongdoing came to light as the result of an Associated Press investigation in 2023 which not only found that the nation’s fourth largest drug distributor was playing it fast and loose with dangerous opioids, but also that the four-year delay in DEA action may have been the result of the so-to-speak “revolving door” between public entities and private companies which can lead to biased decision making at the government level.

In the case of Morris and Dickson one such DEA employee, Louis Milione, spent 21 years working with the DEA in the Office of Diversion Control before retiring in 2017. After that, the Associated Press found that Milione became a consultant for the companies he was previously a regulator of, including Morris and Dickson, who hired him on a $3 million contract to essentially save their ability to produce and supply painkillers after the DEA accused the company of turning a blind eye to large suspicious orders of opioids. 

Milione advocated for Morris & Dickson in court to little or no avail as the judge presiding over the case wrote a long scathing 159-page report recommending Morris and Dickson have their license revoked. According to the Associated Press, it was not until four years later when the AP asked the DEA to comment on their investigation into Morris and Dickson that the DEA finally followed through on what the judge recommended and revoked their license, only to reinstate it with this recent order less than a year later.

“If the DEA had issued its order in a timely manner, one could then credibly believe that its second-in-command was not involved despite an obvious conflict of interest,” said Craig Holman, an ethics expert at the watchdog group Public Citizen in Washington to the Associated Press in 2023. “The mere fact that its action has been delayed four years just raises red flags. It casts the entire process under grave suspicion.”

Morris & Dickson released a brief statement on their website regarding the DEA’s decision to reverse the original license revocation, choosing to give a very general thank you to the DEA rather than going into specifics about the case.

“Morris & Dickson wants to thank the DEA for their recognition of our extensive efforts over the past five years to expand and improve our compliance system for suspicious order monitoring. We appreciate the DEA’s collaboration with us on our shared commitment to patient safety, and we are pleased that the DEA’s actions acknowledge both our current state-of-the-art compliance program and our commitment to continued enhancements into the future,” Morris & Dickson said.

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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently released its National Forensic Laboratory Information System (NFLIS) Drug 2022 Annual Report, which compiles drug testing data collected during 2022.

The NFLIS collects drug results from drug cases across the country by federal, state, and local forensic labs, and compiles the data to report illegal drug use and trafficking trends. “NFLIS-Drug includes information on the specific substance and the characteristics of drug evidence, such as purity, quantity, and drug combinations,” the report explained. “These data are used to support drug scheduling decisions and to inform drug policy and drug enforcement initiatives nationally and in local communities around the country.” NFLIS began publishing data on illegal drug reports in 2001.

Between January 1, 2022-December 31, 2022, the report analyzed test results from 648,738 drug cases that were sent to state or local testing labs in the U.S., which were mainly drugs seized by law enforcement. Everything was examined by March 31, 2023, and 1,181,750 drug reports were reported. 

Among all the most frequently identified drugs across the nation, methamphetamine led as the drug with the highest number of reports (341,049), followed by cocaine (169,972), fentanyl (163,201), cannabis/THC (146,631), and heroin (41,227)—the combination of which totaled to 73% of all drug reports. In comparison to report data from previous years, methamphetamine decreased since 2021, cocaine data remained the same through 2022, fentanyl increased “significantly” starting from 2014 and through 2022, cannabis/THC decreased in 2022, as did heroin.

On a national scale, the report explained the increase in fluorofentanyl and alprazolam, the decrease of oxycodone and buprenorphine, but that psilocin/psilocybin saw a decrease between 2010-2016 and doubled between 2016-2022.

Regionally, psilocin/psilocybin reports increased in all regions with the exception of the western U.S., where the DEA noted a drastically decreased number of reports. Cannabis/THC reports also decreased in the northeast, southern, and western parts of the country.

A large majority of the report analyzes main drug categories, such as narcotic analgesics, which does not include cannabis. However, it does include an overview of synthetic cannabinoids, of which there were 5,410 reports in 2022—ultimately less than one percent of all drug reports. The most common were MDMB-en-PINACA (33%), ADB-BUTINACA (20%), and ADB-FUBIATA (4%). Synthetic cannabinoids were reported mainly in the northeastern U.S. (42%), the Midwest (37%), the west (31%), and the south (27%).

The report also included a detailed map of some of the country’s forensic laboratories, and the regional shifts between leading illegal drugs. For example, the highest percentages of methamphetamine were tested in Rapid City, South Dakota (74%), Fresno, California (65%), Los Angeles, California (63%), Lincoln, Nebraska (57%), and San Diego, California (51%). Cocaine drug testing, however, was found in Miami, Florida (45%), New York City (44%), McAllen, Texas (43%), and El Paso, Texas (38%). Heroin was more commonly tested in areas like Salt Lake City, Utah (14%), San Francisco, California (13%), and Chicago, Illinois (11%), and fentanyl was found the most in Phoenix, Arizona (45%), Santa Fe, New Mexico (34%), Seattle, Washington (32%), and Denver, Colorado (31%), among many others.

The aforementioned synthetic cannabinoid MDMB-en-PINACA was tested in only 4% of labs, and was reported in Birmingham, Alabama.

The report data reflects the harms of various drugs, but also shows how only illegal cannabis is a threat. The widespread acceptance and legalization of cannabis is reflected in other arms of the government as well, such as the U.S. Sentencing Commission which reported in October 2022 that 6,577 people could potentially receive pardons after President Joe Biden announced pardons for people with simple cannabis convictions.

This summer, the Justice Department Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported that there is a 61% decline in federal cannabis prisoners between 2013-2018. According to BJS director Alex Piquero, this was a significant decrease in prisoners compared to those imprisoned for other substances. “Although the number of people in federal prison for drug offenses decreased over this five-year span, they still accounted for a large share—almost half—of the people in [Federal Bureau of Prisons] BOP custody in 2018,” Piquero said. “At the same time, we saw differences by the type of drug involved, with more people incarcerated for heroin and methamphetamines and fewer for marijuana and cocaine.”

Unfortunately, the illegal cannabis industry continues to thrive, even if it’s a small percentage of illegal drug trafficking and sales overall. Last August, a Canadian Border Agency reported 2,000 pounds of illegal cannabis being exported. Just one month later in June 2022, 400 pounds of cannabis were found by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

In June 2023, one driver unknowingly traveled through a U.S./Canadian border (allegedly following his GPS) with another 400 pounds of cannabis. In August, more than 2,000 pounds of cannabis hidden in frozen waffles was discovered at the border of Canada as well.

Earlier this month at the border of the U.S. and Mexico, two tons of cannabis (or ~4,000 pounds) were discovered in a truck, valued at $10 million.

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Last week was busy for the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, who reported Monday that they confiscated over 500,000 fentanyl tablets that were disguised as ”M30” oxycodone pills. One of the primary reasons people overdose on fentanyl is because they think they are taking a less powerful opioid, typically disguised as an oxycodone or hydrocodone pill.

In one bust, a person at a clothing store was allegedly selling a lot more than just clothes: At 10:56 p.m. Friday, police in Hesperia, California served two search warrants at The House of Drip, a clothing store after officers caught wind of a drug operation taking place there. Officers from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department suspect that M30 fentanyl pills, as well as cannabis, were being sold at the business.

“Lenin Martinez Arevalo, 29, of Hesperia, was arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of possessing or purchasing drugs for sale, transportation/sales of drugs, and possessing drugs for sale,” the Daily Press in Victorville reports.

Police said they found more than 4,000 fentanyl pills, cannabis, 227 boxes of THC resin, 35 boxes of psilocybin-infused chocolate, and $1,300 in cash while searching the House of Drip.

M30 fentanyl pills are particularly dangerous because they are designed to mimic the look of prescription oxycodone pills, or to a lesser extent—Adderall, Xanax, and other drugs.

A Bigger Problem in San Bernardino County

This was just a fraction of the total number of fentanyl pills the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Gangs/Narcotics Division scooped up last week. They confiscated over half a million fentanyl tablets.

“Last week, the San Bernardino CountySheriff’s Department Gangs/Narcotics Division seized over 115 pounds of fentanyl pills, equivalent to roughly 517,500 tablets. These pills are counterfeit pharmaceuticals containing fentanyl.

Last October, the San Bernardino County Health Department issued a health advisory to spread awareness to the dangers of fentanyl due to a huge uptick in overdose deaths in the county.

In 2021, there were 354 fentanyl overdose deaths in San Bernardino County.

Local health officials launched a campaign to raise awareness due to an unprecedented rise in fentanyl overdoses and poisonings in San Bernardino County. In June, San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health officials stated that the campaign will carry out through the year, with the slogan “Fentanyl Doesn’t Care. But We Do.”

“There is a misperception that fentanyl only affects drug addicts when in reality, it’s affecting a broad segment of our community,” Board of Supervisors Chair Dawn Rowe told the Daily Press last summer “This campaign will help shed light on the reality of the fentanyl crisis and help us save lives.”

The health department joined the “Stop the Void and the INTO LIGHT Project” to develop a media campaign targeting geographic areas in San Bernardino County that are prone to a high rate of fentanyl overdoses, with special consideration for young adults and “at-risk underserved communities.”

DEA’s Battle with Fake M30 Pills

San Bernardino County is just one region in California, but the problem stretches across all of the U.S. Data shows that in 2021, nearly 70,000 people in the U.S. died of drug overdoses involving fentanyl and fake opioid prescriptions.

“​​Counterfeit pills are nearly identical to actual prescription medications,” the DEA says in a Drug Fact Sheet. “The majority of counterfeit pills resemble oxycodone 30mg pills (M30s), but can also mimic hydrocodone, alprazolam (Xanax), Adderall, and other medications. There are indications that drug trafficking organizations are specifically targeting kids and teens by creating counterfeit pills in a variety of shapes and bright colors to appeal to that age group. Counterfeit M30 pills can vary in color from white to blue. The best way to avoid counterfeit medication is to take only medications prescribed by a licensed medical professional and dispensed by a registered pharmacist.”

As little as 2 mg of fentanyl can be deadly enough to stop breathing, and death is swift. That means taking just one counterfeit pill can result in death, especially if the person does not have a tolerance. On the other hand, 30 mg of oxycodone is maximum strength, which is strong but less likely to cause death than a smaller amount of fentanyl.

“Distributors in the United States are selling counterfeit pills on social media, appealing to a younger audience that use these apps,” the DEA continues. “Minors and young adults experimenting, as well as regular substance users, believe they are buying authentic oxycodone, Adderall, Xanax, or other medicines, but are unwittingly purchasing counterfeit pills that contain lethal amounts of drugs, usually fentanyl and methamphetamine.”

Fentanyl is around 100 times stronger than morphine, and 50 times stronger than heroin. And how widespread is the problem? Twenty-six percent of tablets tested in a DEA laboratory contained a lethal dose of fentanyl, the agency says. 

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