Township Of Radnor: DEA Warns Many Pills On Black Market Have Deadly Amounts Of Fentanyl

Press release from the Township of Radnor:

September 28, 2021

In an effort to maintain the highest level of service to the residents of Radnor Township, the Radnor Police Department maintains many open lines of communication with both local and state law enforcement agencies as well as many federal agencies. It is through the use of these relationships that the Radnor Police Department is making the below information available to ensure the well-being and public safety of our visitors and residents.

DEA Warns Many Pills On Black Market Have Deadly Amounts Of Fentanyl

The Washington Post (9/27, Barrett, Dwoskin) reports that on Monday, the Drug Enforcement Administration “issued a public warning...that a growing number of pain medications bought on the black market are laced with the synthetic opioid fentanyl or the stimulant methamphetamine, driving overdose deaths to record levels.” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told The Washington Post, “We are in the midst, in my view, of an overdose crisis, and the counterfeit pills are driving so much of it.” The Post adds that there were 93,000 overdose deaths last year, up nearly 30% over 2019.

The New York Times (9/27, Vigdor) reports the DEA “warned...that a record number of the 9.5 million fake prescription pills it had seized in the United States this year contained lethal amounts of fentanyl” as “two of every five fake pills that have been seized this year have contained lethal amounts of fentanyl.” The Times adds that the “vast majority of the counterfeit pills...were brought into the United States from Mexico” and “the chemicals used to make them come from China, the agency said.”

While the above references both New York City and Washington D.C., we have received very similar information from our law enforcement partners in Delaware County and the City of Philadelphia.

The Radnor Police Department in no way condones the use of illegal narcotics, but we still believe that making this information available will only make the residents of our community better informed and safer as well.

This press release was produced by the Township of Radnor. The views expressed here are the author’s own.