The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is warning law enforcement to be prepared for Mass “fentanyl-related -overdose” deaths as Mexican Drug Cartels make a major push into United States.
Responding to Nationwide Increases in Fentanyl-Related Mass-Overdose Events
The DEA is seeing a nationwide spike in fentanyl-related mass-overdose events involving three or more overdoses occurring close in time at the same location. In just the past two months, there have been at least 7 confirmed mass overdose events across the United States resulting in 58 overdoses and 29 overdose deaths. Many of the victims of these mass overdose events thought they were ingesting cocaine and had no idea that they were in fact ingesting fentanyl.
The DEA sent a letter to federal, state, and local law enforcement departments nationwide this week saying that they should also be prepared for a spike in mass overdose deaths in which a group of three of more people die at the same location.
This has already happened in Washington D.C., Omaha Nebraska and Austin Texas.
in Fact, according to the DEA, there have been at least 7 confirmed mass overdose events across the United States resulting in 58 overdoses and 29 overdose deaths.
Many of the victims of these mass overdose events thought they were doing cocaine and had no idea that it was laced with fentanyl.
According the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a record amount of Fentanyl was seized at the border last year. The CBP stopped more than 11,000 pounds or 2.5 billion potentially fatal doses, from coming into the country.
According to the CDC, More than 100,000 people died from Fentanyl in the 12 months leading up to April.
While in office President Donald Trump secured $6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid crisis and worked with Congress to pass the Support Act. As a result, the number of first time heroin uses fell by more than 50% and his DOJ took down the country’s biggest Darknet distributor of Drugs.
The overdose rate which was steadily increasing since 1999, for the first time started to see and down turning trend when Trump took office in 2016.
Figure 1. Age-adjusted drug overdose death rates, by sex: United States, 1999–2018
IN 2019 – about 49,000 people died of opioid overdose.
