SAFE GC Coalition: DEA Warns of Fentanyl Overdose Increase

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has alerted federal, state, and local law enforcement partners warning of a nationwide spike in fentanyl-related mass-overdose events.

According to the DEA, fentanyl-related mass-overdose events, characterized as three or more overdoses occurring close in time and at the same location, have happened in at least seven American cities in recent months, resulting in 58 overdoses and 29 deaths. Cities impacted include Wilton Manors, Florida; Austin, Texas; Cortez, Colorado; Commerce City, Colorado; Omaha, Nebraska; St. Louis, Missouri; and Washington, D.C.

Fentanyl is highly-addictive, found in all 50 states, and drug traffickers are increasingly mixing it with other illicit drugs—in powder and pill form—in an effort to drive addiction and attract repeat buyers. These mass-overdose events typically occur in one of the following recurring scenarios: when drug dealers sell their product as “cocaine,” when it actually contains fentanyl; or when drug dealers sell pills designed to appear nearly identical to legitimate prescriptions, but are actually fake prescription pills containing fentanyl. This is creating a frightening nationwide trend where many overdose victims are dying after unknowingly ingesting fentanyl.

Fentanyl is driving the nationwide overdose epidemic. The CDC estimates that in the 12-month period ending in October 2021, more than 105,000 Americans died of drug overdoses, with 66 percent of those deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Last year, the United States suffered more fentanyl-related deaths than gun- and auto-related deaths combined.

• The DEA has offered all available resources to assist law enforcement partners, including:
• Interdicting the substance that is driving the spike in overdoses;
• Investigating and identifying the dealers and larger drug trafficking organizations responsible for the overdose event;
• Providing priority access to all of DEA’s resources, including its labs, chemists, and overdose subject matter experts;
• Assisting with the presentation of the investigation to federal prosecutors; and
• Warning the public about the lethal drug threat.

The DEA is working to trace mass-overdose events back to the local drug trafficking organizations and international cartels responsible for the surging domestic supply of fentanyl and continues to seize fentanyl at record rates. In the first three months of 2022, the DEA has seized almost 2,000 pounds of fentanyl and one million fake pills. Last year, more than 15,000 pounds of fentanyl was seized—four times the amount seized in 2017—which is enough to kill every person residing in the United States.

The SAFE Glen Cove Coalition is conducting an opioid prevention awareness campaign entitled. “Keeping Glen Cove SAFE,” in order to educate and update the community regarding opioid use and its consequences. To learn more about the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition please follow us on www.facebook.com/safeglencovecoalition or visit SAFE’s website to learn more about the Opioid Epidemic at www.safeglencove.org.