DEA seized 379 million lethal doses of fentanyl: US has 332 million inhabitants

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported that the equivalent of 379 million lethal doses of fentanyl were seized during 2022. According to the agency, just 2 milligrams of the opioid, the size of the tip of a pencil, can be lethal. It is up to 50 times more potent than heroin:

The DEA reported seizing 50.6 million counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl, in addition to 4.5 tons of the drug in powder form throughout the year. This equates to "more than 379 million potentially lethal doses of this opioid."

Fentanyl from Mexico and China

The drug is manufactured in Mexico with chemicals from China: "Most of the fentanyl trafficked by the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel- New Generation is mass-produced in secret factories in Mexico with chemicals sourced mostly from China.”

In response to this, the agency claimed that it was putting all its efforts into eliminating the two cartels that lead the trafficking of this drug:

One of the authorities’ biggest concerns is that the drug is distributed by prescription in the form of counterfeit drugs such as Percocet, OxyContin and Xanax. About 60% of the withheld pills had a "potentially lethal dose of the opioid.”

"The deadliest drug threat"

Last July, the agency reported seizing enough fentanyl to kill the entire U.S. population. It pointed out that the opioid, which a decade ago caused only a fraction of the overdose deaths, is now the "deadliest drug threat facing this country.”

It was also the leading cause of more than 107,000 overdose deaths across the United States between July 2021 and June 2022, according to official data.