Fentanyl has been the main driver of the U.S. Opioid Crisis in recent decades. This problem shows no signs of slowing down as many law enforcement agencies across the nation have reported record-breaking fentanyl busts through 2022.
Anne Milgram, Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator, stated that Fentanyl was the deadliest drug threat the nation has ever faced. This was in response to the DEA’s Fentanyl Awareness Day earlier in the year. “Fentanyl can be found everywhere. This poison is everywhere, from large urban areas to rural America. Spreading the word about fentanyl poisonings and overdose deaths must be done at every opportunity.
Experts agree with Milgram’s description of the problem. They continue to warn that even small doses of the drug could prove fatal. These dangers are not limited to racial or socioeconomic groups. However, overdoses in small towns as well as large cities have been increasing across the country.
The law enforcement agencies are on the front line of this issue and trying to stop the dangerous drug reaching the streets. Law enforcement agencies from coast to coast have seen signs that the problem has grown, with many agencies busting records that were previously broken throughout the year. These are just some of the records-breaking fentanyl busts recorded in 2022.
FLORIDA OFFICE MAKES A RECORD FENTANYL BOUST, ARRESTS 3 PEOPLE TRACKING DRUGS SENTED FROM MEXICO
Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)
Authorities in South Dakota make ‘historic’ seizure
Last month, the Roberts County Sheriff’s Office in South Dakota announced that 16 pounds of fentanyl was seized and that fentanyl-laced tablets were seized during a traffic stop. This seizure is the largest ever recorded in the state.
Sheriff Tyler Appel posted the following message on Facebook: “As historic and significant as this seizure, it is also a reminder that our job as law enforcers is now more important than ever for safety of our communities. Our citizens. And the incredible state of South Dakota.”
These drugs included approximately three pounds of fentanyl as well as 53,000 fake pills laced fentanyl. They were worth more than $2 million street value.
Eugene Police make the biggest arrest in department history, seizing guns, cash, and fentanyl
According to The Register Guard, the Eugene Police Department made a welfare check the largest fentanyl bust of any Oregon agency in October.
ARIZONA POLICE SEIZE 395,000 FENTANYL PILLS DURING TRAFFIC STOP, SUSPECT ARRESTED
Officers responded to calls about a man lying down in his car at a red light. They found Andre Lavell Johnson, 42, unconscious at the wheel. Officers used patrol cars to bring the car in. But Johnson refused to obey police commands and tried to get his car started.
Officers found a gun at Johnson’s feet and removed him from the vehicle. A subsequent search revealed that Johnson was carrying fentanyl pills as well as stolen cash.
Later, police executed a search warrant on Johnson’s home and vehicles. They found around 18 pounds of suspected Fentanyl, two guns, and $47,000 in cash.
Johsnson was arrested for three felonies including driving with a suspended license, drug possession, and DUII.
SOUTH CAROLINA UTHORITIES USE ENOUGH FENTANYL THUS CULTIVING 15 MILLION
Trafficker who has large amounts of fentanyl evades DEA in multiple states
A bag of rainbow-colored Fentanyl pills. ( U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA)
After he was arrested with 114 pounds fentanyl, the DEA struck a deal earlier this year with David Maldonado.
According to a NBC News report, Maldonado offered to be a lead agent to drug traffickers in South Bend and Indiana. He claimed that this was a place to get the drugs. Maldonado managed to get rid of the agents and the tracker that they had left in his car while he was on his way to Indiana. Maldonado is now considered to be a fugitive.
“DEA was working alongside us, and they made a bargain with the driver,” a spokesperson from the Colorado State Patrol said about the incident. He ran on them after they had worked the case and that was their debacle.
The drugs were never found by law enforcement. This led to a news conference where Brian Besser (special agent in charge Drug Enforcement Administration’s Denver Field Division) boasted about securing 114 pounds of Fentanyl. Besser claimed that the drugs could have killed more than 25,000,000 people and was the biggest fentanyl bust to be made on a U.S. highway.
MINNESOTA POLICE RECORD SETTING FENTANYL BUSH
Minnesota police department makes record bust
After finding 24 pounds of fentanyl, the Bloomington Police Department in Minnesota arrested Marcus Trice, 36.
The department stated in a statement that it was the largest ever seizure of Fentanyl for Bloomington Police and the biggest seizures for the state.
Marcus Trice (Sherburne County Jail).
Police said that Trice was found with pills that looked like oxycodone. He was charged with first-degree possession and intent to distribute. After police discovered that he had several fraudulent credit cards, Trice was also charged for credit card fraud.
Over five years, fentanyl seizures in St. Louis have risen by nearly 800%
St. The Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division broke the record for fentanyl seizures in fiscal year 2022 by seizing 671 pounds. This is a significant increase for the region, which had 396 pounds of fentanyl seizures in 2021. This is a striking increase from 2018, when the agency took 77 pounds of Fentanyl. That’s an almost 800% increase in five years.
CALIFORNIA MEN ARE ARRESTED, CHARGED ABOUT ACCESSING 32,000 FENTANYL PHILLS WORTH $1MILLION
In a press release, Special Agent in Charge Michael A. Davis stated that “Looking at the staggering increase in seizures it is clear that DEA, its local, state, and federal partners have stepped in our efforts to prevent fentanyl reaching our communities.” “Unfortunately, the drug flow into the Midwest in many forms is a sign that drug trafficking organisations will go to great lengths to make a profit off the misery of our citizens. We will continue to fight these criminal networks and spread the message that what they are selling is deadly.
The DEA’s St. Louis Division seized 3,203 lbs of methamphetamine in 2022 and 57 lbs of heroin.
Old Court House in St. Louis and Gateway Arch in St. Louis. (Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Image)
New York City’s record-breaking fentanyl busts are only for a few days
According to ABC 12, federal officials announced that they had seized the most fentanyl in New York City history. They also arrested a woman for hiding about 15,000 rainbow-colored pills.
The record was not maintained, however, as authorities announced the Oct. 7 arrests of two people who were in possession of 300,000. Rainbow-colored fentanyl tablets in a Bronx apartment.
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The street value of the drugs was approximately $9 million. Multiple firearm and drug charges were brought against the suspects.
“Hundreds of thousands were waiting in a Bronx apartment, ready to be unleashed on our streets.” Frank Tarentino, DEA Special Agent-in-Charge, stated that overdoses are a serious risk in today’s world. These fake pills are not quality controlled and can be fatally poisonous with just two milligrams of Fentanyl.
