WEST MICHIGAN — Synthetic opioids like fentanyl are steadily killing people in all parts of Michigan and throughout the United States. The potent pain killer is being found in potentially deadly amounts in all sorts of drugs, sometimes in pills that appear to be legitimate pharmaceuticals.
In order to get a grip on what is happening with fentanyl and other potentially dangerous drugs, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) employs a small army of skilled forensic chemists to analyze the substances that are seized in federal cases.
“The drugs of today are not like the drugs of yesterday,” Brian McNeil, the public information officer for the DEA’s Detroit office, told FOX 17.
“Fentanyl is the biggest drug threat the nation has seen.”
Introduced to the United States pharmaceutical market in the 1960s, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid painkiller that is federally approved for use as an analgesic and anesthetic.
According to the DEA, it is about 100 times as potent as morphine, and 50 times as potent as heroin.
Just two milligrams of pure fentanyl can kill an adult.
To understand just how substantial its presence has become, we need to look at deadly overdoses in Michigan over the last two decades.
In 2001, there were 188 fatal overdoses involving opioids of any kind (prescription opioids, heroin and synthetic opioids like fentanyl).
Prescription pills accounted for 72 of those deaths, heroin accounted for 79 and synthetic opioids only accounted for 16.
Ten years later in 2011, there were 686 fatal overdoses involving opioids of any kind.
Only 83 of those deaths were from synthetic opioids. A total of 411 were attributed to prescription opioids, and 409 to heroin.
Fatal overdoses involving prescription opioids peaked in 2016 — of the 1,788 fatal overdoses involving some kind of opioid that year, 697 were attributed to prescription pills.
There were an incredible 2,539 overdose deaths involving some kind of opioid in 2021 — of those deaths, prescription pills accounted for just 512, while heroin accounted for 203.
Synthetic opioids like fentanyl were said to be responsible for 2,287 of those deadly overdoses, just over 90%.
One of the difficult realities of the current crisis is that people don’t always know they are even putting fentanyl into their bodies in the first place.
Often, forensic chemists working at DEA laboratories find fentanyl inside pills that appear to be legitimate pharmaceuticals.
FOX 17 was given unique access into the agency’s North Central lab, located on a secure floor of a federal building in downtown Chicago.
There are nine DEA labs located throughout the country. The North Central lab serves 12 states, including Michigan and Illinois.
At full staff, they employ 30 forensic chemists who run a number of diagnostic tests on suspected illicit drugs seized in mostly federal cases. There are also about 20 support staff employed at the facility.
As of August 2023, the North Central lab had about 40,000 pieces of evidence in various stages of the testing process.
They receive about 10,000 pieces of evidence every year, with that number slowly climbing.
Recently, staff at the North Central lab have been finding fentanyl all over.
“If you are not getting your prescription drugs from a legitimate pharmacy, with a legitimate prescription, you are playing a dangerous game,” McNeil said during the tour.
“Sixty percent of fake pills that we're finding on the street contain a lethal dosage of fentanyl.”
McNeil says the agency believes most of the precursors for fentanyl are shipped from China or India into Mexico, where they are then processed into fentanyl and pressed into pill form.
Two specific cartels are in control of that fentanyl production in Mexico: the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
"You can make a pill for probably somewhere, depending on how you make it, for about 10 cents, and then you can sell that pill for $80," McNeil explained.
"And, if that pill kills someone, the cartels don't care; their suppliers don't care."
Once the fentanyl crosses the border into the United States, McNeil says it is local street gangs actually selling the product to users.
Because the manufacturers in Mexico are using the same unregulated warehouses to process fentanyl as they are other drugs, such as methamphetamine and cocaine, there is cross-contamination happening.
"Traditionally, you used to just sell one [drug], or just sell the other," McNeil said.
"So many are now poly-drug. There's no quality control, so this fentanyl powder can be in just about anything."
In addition to the concern of fentanyl popping up in seemingly legitimate pharmaceutical pills on the street, another unique substance is being found more and more often at the North Central Lab: xylazine.
"It is an animal tranquilizer that is being used as an adulterant. So, it's spreading out the fentanyl supply for someone who's selling," McNeil explained.
When people are shooting up substances containing xylazine, it is causing serious tissue damage at the injection site.
"And the scary thing about it is Narcan or Naloxone, that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, doesn't deal with the effects or the respiratory suppression that xylazine causes," McNeil said.
Sadly, this is pushing some people struggling with addiction even further away from treatment.
"They go into a treatment center and they're not being admitted, because you can't admit someone who has decaying tissue on their arm or their leg," McNeil said.
"So, they first have to go to the hospital."
While the numbers of people dying from fentanyl and suffering at the hands of xylazine may seem overwhelming, the DEA continues forward with their efforts.
They say the best way to make a personal impact on the current crisis is to lock up any prescription medications, alcohol, or intoxicating drugs of any sort from others in your home, particularly kids and teenagers.
For now, the federal agency on its public face is moving away from scare tactics and more towards visible community involvement.
The DEA has launched Operation Engage in Kalamazoo County.
"So, Operation Engage is not the DEA coming into Kalamazoo County and the surrounding community saying 'this is how you're going to solve your drug problem.' ... That couldn't be further from the truth," McNeil explained to FOX 17.
"We're working with the existing infrastructures. So, we have our enforcement agents who are working with the state and locals to identify those bad actors in the area, but we also have our outreach element where we have dedicated community outreach specialists working in the area."
You can find out more information about Operation Engage in Kalamazoo County at the DEA's website HERE.
