GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and its law enforcement partners seized more than 65 kilograms of fentanyl powder and 88,000 fentanyl laced pills from May 23-September 8 in Michigan and Ohio.
According to the Department of Justice, the seize was part of the One Pill Can Kill initiative. The amount seized during that period was enough to provide 4.7 million deadly dosages.
Throughout the country, more than 10.2 million fentanyl pills and approximately 980 pounds of fentanyl powder were seized between May 23-September 8. The amount of fentanyl taken during the surge is the equivalent to more than 36 million lethal doses.
Fentanyl is currently the deadliest drug threat in the United States. It is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin. Two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a potentially lethal dose. Drug traffickers sell fentanyl in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes.
In 2021, 66% of drug poisoning deaths in the United States were attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
“The opioid epidemic is something that touches us all – we all have friends, family, or coworkers who have been directly affected by an opioid poisoning or death,” said Spectrum Health’s Center of Integrative Medicine’s Dr. Collen Lane. “Our Spectrum addiction medicine clinic is committed to educating our medical colleagues to better support patients and their families, providing resources to improve quality of care for vulnerable individuals, and reducing stigma around substance use disorder.”
“My office is committed to prosecuting the traffickers who are distributing this poison and the dealers who peddle it,” said U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten. “But let me also be clear: this is not a problem that we can prosecute our way out of. All stakeholders – law enforcement, first responders, the healthcare and rehabilitation community, and those in arm reduction must continue working together to address this problem.”
“Fentanyl in pill form is a deliberate attempt by drug cartels to make illicit drug use more appealing to Americans,” said DEA Detroit Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene. “Fake pills are especially concerning because the appeal they can have to an unsuspecting person. One may believe they are taking a legitimate pharmacy-grade pill pilfered from perhaps someone’s medicine cabinet or stolen from a pharmacy. Far too often that isn’t the case; many of the pills people buy on the street were haphazardly made in a clandestine lab – containing lethal dosages of fentanyl.”
