Colorado breaks record for fentanyl seizures so far this year
Colorado has broken the record for fentanyl seizures and the year still has one month to go. The state has already surpassed the total amount of fentanyl seizures that set records last year.
The Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Field Division has seized nearly 2.7 million fentanyl pills in the state which breaks last year's record-setting 2.61 million pills seized in Colorado. Those include fake or counterfeit fentanyl pills.
"It is an unfortunate record to set," said DEA RMFD Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen in a statement. "We continue to work day in, day out fighting the cartels putting this poison on Colorado streets. While we have seen seizure numbers trending lower in other parts of the country, Colorado seems to be consistently at or near record highs for the number of fake pills seized."
According to the DEA, lab testing reveals five out of every 10 pills analyzed contain a likely fatal dose of fentanyl for a first-time user. This is down from seven in 10 pills in 2023. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, the amount that can fit on the tip of the pencil, is considered a fatal dose.
"It's not a time to celebrate the lethality going down across the country. There's still a 50-50 chance you'll die after taking just one of these pills. It's a flip of a coin," Pullen added in a statement.
According to the DEA RMFD, the vast majority of fake pills coming to Colorado are made by Mexican drug cartels to look like Oxycodone pills, or "blues" – counterfeit "M30s" – with an "M" stamped on one side, "30" for milligrams on the other.
The DEA is concerned about the recent appearance of carfentanil in Colorado. Carfentanil is an animal tranquilizer used to sedate or put down animals the size of elephants and rhinoceroses. Last month, the DEA said a seizure of 250,000 pills was determined to contain carfentanil which is 100 times more potent than fentanyl.
Additional Information from the DEA RMFD:
While it took Colorado eleven months to break last year's record pill seizures, Utah broke its pill seizure record (668,000) in the first six months this year (774,000). Within the DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division, Wyoming and Montana have seen pill seizures trend lower over the course of 2024.
Last year's pill seizure total for the entire four-state Division was approximately 3.4 million pills seized. 2024 Division numbers will likely be released in late January 2025.