DEA cites alarming rise in Fentanyl deaths
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As the new year rolls in, Drug Enforcement Administration Divisions across the U.S. are seeing overdose deaths climb at an alarming rate, especially those caused by the synthetic opioid, fentanyl. Only weeks ago, the DEA reported overdose deaths in the U.S. had topped 100,000 for the first time over a 12-month period ending last spring. Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the DEA’s Washington Division is taking this personally.
“Too many people in our area are still unaware of the problem,” said SAC Forget.
In 2020, fatal opioid overdoses in the D.C. area surged dramatically — in some cases, to the highest levels ever recorded. Throughout 2021, these numbers only increased. And in January of 2022, the District of Columbia saw rashes of overdose deaths occurring due to “bad batches” of fentanyl-laced drugs being distributed to hard-hit communities.
Based on the most recently available data, 2021 was an even deadlier year for much of the region — a trend that is exacerbated by the Mexican cartels’ efforts to turn a quick profit. The DEA has been seeing Mexican cartels sourcing raw, dangerous chemicals from China, using these chemicals to cheaply produce the deadly synthetic opioid, fentanyl. This fentanyl is then trafficked into the area, mixed into almost every illicit drug, and sold to unsuspecting buyers, causing an extraordinary spike in deadly overdose deaths.