Fentanyl is deadly. One pill can kill you.
That is the message the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Texas Department of Public Safety stressed at a Wednesday press conference addressing the dangers of fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a schedule 2 drug that is commonly used in surgeries and to treat pain, but the fentanyl authorities are seeing on the streets is different. It is synthesized; made from precursor chemicals shipped from Chinese companies to Mexican drug cartels, said Richard Sanchez, assistant deputy agent-in-charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in South Texas.
The drug cartels press the synthesized fentanyl into fake pills to make them look legitimate.
“A small amount only two milligrams of fentanyl can kill you,” Sanchez said.
From May to September of this year, authorities seized more than 10.2 million fentanyl pills and about 980 pounds of fentanyl powder.
“The numbers may seem small. However, that is equivalent to 36 million dosage units enough to kill everybody in South Texas,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez said drug cartels are mass producing fentanyl without any concerns to families and the communities where they are being distributed in.
“Drug dealers are no longer standing on street corners selling these drugs. They are using social media to their advantage. They are using it as a way and means to sell their drugs and push it on our children,” Sanchez said.
Fentanyl has become the favorite drug for pushers because of the low investment and how easily it can be made, said Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz.
In 2021, there were 108,000 individuals who overdosed on drugs, and 66% of those overdoses were directly attributed to fentanyl overdoses. Fentanyl overdoses are the number one cause of death among adults between the ages of 18 and 45, authorities said.
Cameron County authorities are investigating one drug-related overdose that may be tied to fentanyl use, Saenz said.
“We have been very fortunate. Again, we are not being naïve. We know that it is out there. We know that it is coming through here, and that is why we are here right now because that is the way we want to keep it, with just one (fentanyl related death) right now,” Saenz said.
While the age group usually linked to fentanyl usage is between 18 and 45 years of age, the drug could also get in the hands of school-age children, and authorities want parents to talk to their children about the danger of fentanyl.
“There are people, kids younger than age 18, that are buying the Xanax bars, are buying the Adderall, that are buying the Oxycodone,” Saenz said.
The DEA conducted a random test on thousands of pills that had been seized and half of them had been laced with fentanyl.
“That’s the concern. You might think you are taking a simple Oxycodone pill. You may think you are taking a Xanax pill, an Adderall pill, but it is laced with fentanyl and that is the danger. You might not even know what you are ingesting,” Saenz said.
The lacing of fentanyl on other drugs consists of mixing drugs with the fentanyl in order to maximize profits, Sanchez said.
Fentanyl is a powdery substance that is typically white, but the color can change when it is mixed with other additives.
“There is no perfect mixture…they are done clandestinely, which means in bathrooms, or in closets, or in one room apartments or in makeshift laboratories that they created,” Sanchez said. “That is why it is so important for people to know that if you take a pill you are gambling with your life.”
In 2021 in Texas, nearly 17,000 individuals lost their lives due to fentanyl poisoning. That is why Governor Abbott’s office has initiated the state-wide campaign “One Pill Kills”, DPS Lt. Christopher Olivarez said.
The campaign is not only to crack down on individuals dealing this dangerous and lethal drug but for all law enforcement agencies to join together to spread awareness of what fentanyl can do.
“Those of you parents, family, friends, it is imperative that you educate your loved ones so that we do not have any tragedies take place here in the Rio Grande Valley,” Olivarez said.
As Halloween approaches, authorities want parents to be vigilant and inspect the candies their children are getting while trick-or-treating, since rainbow colored fentanyl is making its way into the U.S.
Earlier this month, federal authorities at Los Angeles International Airport seized 12,000 pills that were packaged in what appeared to be candy bags. Authorities believe this was just the way the pills were being smuggled into the United States and were not meant to get in the hands of children.
“We don’t want to alarm the public. We just want them to be vigilant,” Olivarez said. “There is this rainbow fentanyl that looks like candy, but we haven’t seen it here in the Rio Grande Valley…as Halloween approaches, we are always trying to be vigilant and make sure we ensure those safety protocols…We want our children to have fun but also a safe Halloween.”
