Record Fentanyl Seizures Made In Phoenix, Scottsdale: DEA

PHOENIX — Law enforcement agencies in the Valley seized a record 1.7 million fentanyl pills and 10 kilograms of fentanyl powder in a single investigation on Tuesday, according to a news release from the Phoenix Drug Enforcement Administration.

In a two-month "public safety surge" the Phoenix DEA, along with the Scottsdale Police Department and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, seized more than three million fentanyl pills, 45 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 35 firearms and made more than 40 arrests.

The record-breaking fentanyl seizure was made at the tail-end of the surge.

The DEA says that these drug seizures were directly linked to at least 46 overdoses and 39 overdose deaths and that at least 76 of the cases involved drug traffickers using social media like Snapchat, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to sell the drugs.

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that can be 80-100 time stronger than morphine, according to the DEA. Drugs laced with fentanyl can put users at high risk of overdose.

The Phoenix DEA said that the public safety surge, from Sept. 29 through Tuesday, was in part a reaction to drug overdoses in the United States reaching new heights.

"The surge targeted criminal drug networks that are harnessing the anonymity and accessibility of social media apps to push deadly drugs into American communities," the DEA said in the news release.

DEA officials warned in the news release that criminal groups in Mexico are mass-producing pills meant to look like prescription drugs such as Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin, Adderall and Xanax but are actually fentanyl or fentanyl-laced. These fake prescription pills have been found in all 50 states, according to the DEA.

"Mexican criminal drug networks are harnessing the perfect drug trafficking tool: social media applications that are available on every smartphone,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram in the news release. “They are using these platforms to flood our country with fentanyl. The ease with which drug dealers can operate on social media and other popular smartphone apps is fueling our Nation’s unprecedented overdose epidemic.”