A poison that was discovered concealed in the packaging of Skittles and Nerds last year and may be sold to young children on social media caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans.
As part of the One Pill Can Kill campaign, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recovered about 980 pounds of fentanyl powder and 10.2 million fentanyl pills between May 23 and September 8 of this year.
35 of the 390 instances studied during this time have been directly tied to one or both of the two main Mexican cartels that provide the bulk of the fentanyl in the United States, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, with 51 cases being related to overdose poisonings (CJNG).
Additionally, 129 investigations have been connected to social media sites including TikTok, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Snapchat.
As kids get ready for the Halloween season, the DEA has issued a strong caution to parents to educate themselves, stating that “this is not a drug problem, it’s a mass poisoning.”
According to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, the substance has had a terrible influence on the neighborhood.
“Fentanyl is destroying families and communities throughout the nation, and we know that violent, nefarious drug gangs are to blame for this disaster,” stated Garland.
“The Justice Department is working to disrupt and destroy the operations of these cartels, remove lethal fentanyl from our communities, and save Americans’ lives,” the Justice Department said. “This effort includes the amazing professionals of the DEA.”
Anne Milgram, administrator of the DEA, said that tackling the fentanyl epidemic has been a top priority.
The Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG, who manufacture and supply the fentanyl that is poisoning and murdering Americans, are the greatest pressing danger to our neighborhoods, our children, and our families, according to Milgram.
The Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG are merciless, criminal groups that have little respect for human life and utilize trickery and betrayal to fuel addiction.
The DEA is unwaveringly committed to stopping the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG by undermining their operations and making it difficult for them to do business in order to preserve American lives.
The DEA is encouraging parents to be cautious in light of a recent discovery in Connecticut when 15,000 fentanyl tablets were discovered concealed in Skittles and Nerds packaging. Halloween is just a few weeks away.
According to Derek Maltz, a former head of special operations for the DEA, parents should be informed.
The DEA reports that 40% of the tablets contain a potentially fatal quantity of fentanyl, and we now know this because of the extraordinary number of children dying as young as 13 years old,’ he added.
Parents must take the initiative. It’s lethal fentanyl, and our streets are being inundated like never before.
“This is widespread poisoning, not a drug problem.”
66 percent (about 71,030) of the 107,622 Americans who died from drug toxicity or overdose in 2021 may be ascribed to fentanyl.
The DEA said that drug dealers had increased their stock to include fentanyl in a wide range of vibrant colors, shapes, and sizes.
Since February 2022, when rainbow fentanyl was first reported to the DEA, it has been found and confiscated in 21 different states throughout the US.
A synthetic opioid called fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin. A potentially fatal dosage of fentanyl is thought to be as little as two milligrams, or about the size of the tip of a pencil.