DEA Seized A Literal Ton Of Fentanyl In NY During 2022: Feds

NEW YORK CITY — A literal ton of fentanyl and 1.9 million fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills were seized in New York by the feds during 2022, authorities said.

But even as DEA agents seized record-breaking amounts of fentanyl, more than 2,300 overdose deaths in New York City were tied to the drug, prosecutors said Thursday.

Fentanyl is a factor of roughly 80 percent of overdose deaths in the city, said Bridget G. Brennan, the city's special narcotics prosecutors.

"Even casual or occasional illegal drug use could be fatal, and with an explosion in counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, a single tablet purchased online or on social media could be deadly," she said in a statement.

Drug dealers often add illicitly manufactured fentanyl to other narcotics because it is strong — 50 times more powerful than heroin, in fact, according to the CDC — and allows them to sell less for more.

But fentanyl is so potent that lacing other drugs with it can be dangerous. As Gothamist reported in 2021, New York City partygoers started posting warnings about fentanyl-laced cocaine.

By 2022, local authorities seized 950,000 fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills, or 425 percent more than the year before, prosecutors said.

Among the fentanyl busts in 2022 was a 300,000-pill cache of so-called "rainbow fentanyl" seized from a Bronx apartment where one accused dealer clung to a windowsill with no fire escape in an effort to escape authorities.

In December, authorities conducted three busts in which out-of-state residents were accused of driving fentanyl pills into New York City, prosecutors said.