Cartels shift focus to synthetic drugs, leading to massive fentanyl seizures by DEA
The synthetic drug fentanyl has become more prominent than ever in the United States. (Photo: Drug Enforcement Administration)
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The Drug Enforcement Administration seized enough potentially lethal fentanyl doses last year to wipe out the equivalent of the entire U.S. population.
In 2022, the DEA confiscated 50 million pills, with local seizures occurring across various states, including in Utah.
Just this week, Salt Lake City police seized 1,000 fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl, known as M30’s.
Officials attribute the surge in fentanyl to a shift in cartel business models toward synthetic drugs, which are easier and quicker to produce.
Nearly two years have passed since Jim Conforti's wife, Lindsey, died of a fentanyl overdose.
Since then, Conforti has been fighting for justice against those he believes supplied her with the deadly pills.
“The reality is that nothing is going to bring my wife back, but maybe, just maybe, in her name, I can stop one person from dying" Conforti says.
He believes that there needs to be more prosecutions around distribution, emphasizing, "You may not always win, but at least you've tried."
The DEA has focused much of its attention on two Mexican cartels, Sinaloa and CJNG that have shifted their focus from plant-based drugs to synthetics, particularly fentanyl.
Brian Besser, a DEA senior advisor, says, "Never in my 31-year law enforcement career have I seen an oversaturated drug market like we currently see now."
He notes that unlike plant-based drugs, synthetics are not subject to the same limitations, such as grow seasons and shipping routes, which he believes contributes to the current drug saturation.
Fentanyl's various forms are often just marketing gimmicks.
Besser says that drug networks constantly change the appearance of their products to make them seem new in the market.
"Now what we're seeing across the Rocky Mountain West is another unique blend where they've taken the fentanyl pills—they're white, they've got the speckled, colored speckles, and they're calling it 'Fruity Pebbles” Besser says.
