Large packages of fentanyl made to look like candy were seized last week at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Nogales Port Director Michael Humphries in Arizona tweeted on August 17 that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers “seized over 15,000 fentanyl pills strapped to a person’s legs.”
The pills were multi-colored and had the appearance of candy. It was the second time that such pills were seized at Nogales in as many days.
Humphries warned, “This could be the start of a trend with Transnational Criminal Organizations targeting younger users.”
Fentanyl is a relatively new synthetic opioid that is up to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
The drug is sometimes called “China Girl” or “China Town,” in reference to the large amount produced in China that is smuggled into the United States. Other names include “Dance Fever,” “Great Bear,” and “Murder 8.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that “mainly synthetic opioids … are currently the main driver of drug overdose deaths.”
The CDC further explained, “Most of the increases in fentanyl deaths over the last three years … are related to illicitly-made fentanyl that is being mixed with or sold as heroin—with or without the users’ knowledge and increasing as counterfeit pills.”
The introduction of fentanyl has become a significant issue across the country, with places such as King County, Washington, declaring it a public health crisis.
“We declared fentanyl a public health crisis to sound the alarm that fentanyl is lethal, prevalent on our streets, and tragically claiming the lives of far too many people — children, parents, brothers, sisters,” explained County Councilmember Reagan Dunn.
In Wisconsin, the Department of Health Services noted, “Over the last year, synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, were identified in 91 percent of opioid overdose deaths and 73 percent of all drug overdose deaths.”
In border states such as Texas, however, the issue is especially pressing as Mexico is one of the leading producers of illicit fentanyl.
In July 2022 alone, fentanyl seizures jumped 200%, with over 2,000 pounds confiscated along the U.S.-Mexico border.
As little as three milligrams of fentanyl can kill a full-sized adult male. Thus, 2,000 pounds of fentanyl could kill over 300 million people — nearly the population of the United States.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) confiscated over 326 million doses of fentanyl in roughly the last year, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The issue led Gov. Greg Abbott to hold a conference in late July highlighting the danger of the “growing fentanyl crisis.”