1 Deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced’: DEA seized record amount of fentanyl in Colorado last year

A total of 522 people died from drug overdoses in Denver in 2023, the most since tracking began in 1923, according to Denver’s Office of the Medical Examiner. Around 40% of those deaths involved the use of fentanyl, according to the office.

In an effort to battle the ongoing fentanyl war that has blazed since its introduction as an illicit substance in 2017, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) has ramped up its work against the distribution of the dangerous drug.

The RMFD — which covers Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming — seized 425.60 kilograms of fentanyl, or approximately 2.61 million pills, in 2023, according to a Friday press release.

In comparison, the division seized 565,200 fentanyl pills in the entirety of the four states in 2021, 1.9 million in 2022, and approximately 3.4 million pills in 2023.

The agency stresses how important the seizures are for the lives of Americans, noting that DEA laboratory testing in 2023 indicated seven out of 10 pills tested contain a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl — an increase from four in 10 pills in 2021 and six in 10 pills in 2022.

“While the significant increase in fentanyl seizures across the region demonstrates the outstanding work our agents and partners in law enforcement are doing, the numbers also reveal the extent to which the cartels continue to flood our nation with this poison. As we begin the new year, DEA is committed to staying laser-focused on investigating the two cartels most responsible for trafficking fentanyl into the United States, as well as bringing greater public awareness to the dangers of fentanyl,” David Olesky, Acting Special Agent in Charge for DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division, said in the press release.

The two major cartels, according to the release, are the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel. The DEA reportedly has more than 48 active investigations against the two groups.

For example, the RMFD and North Metro Task Force indicted nine members of a Mexican cartel — the Sanudo-Rivera drug trafficking organization — that allegedly brought “large quantities” of drugs into Adams County and other parts of Colorado in November.

17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason said the Mexican cartel has an “enormous presence” in the local drug community throughout the state during a press conference after the indictments. He noted the cartel has a “very sophisticated operation to get drugs here and they have people here who are working for them and helping them… We’re going after that.”

The DEA, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023, says they’ve “ushered in a transformation of DEA’s organization and strategy to meet this extraordinary moment in time as the United States confronts the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced – fentanyl.”

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