Record number of fentanyl-laced pills seized in Colorado

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) - The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) says officials have seized a record number of fentanyl pills in Colorado this year.

The agency says a record-breaking 2.7 million fentanyl pills were seized in 2024, and there's still one month left in the year.

Last year, the RMFD says 2.61 million pills were seized.

According to officials, the "fake pills" are coming into Colorado by Mexican drug cartels. Usually, fentanyl is pressed to look like Oxycodone pills, or “blues” – counterfeit “M30s” – with an “M” stamped on one side

“It’s not a time to celebrate the lethality going down across the country. There’s still a 50-50
chance you’ll die after taking just one of these pills. It’s a flip of a coin,” said DEA RMFD Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen in a press release.

DEA says they have concerns over the appearance of another drug on U.S. streets: Carfentanil, an animal tranquilizer.

Officials say it is 100 times more potent than fentanyl. Two milligrams of fentanyl (the amount that can fit on the tip of a pencil) is considered deadly, DEA officials say.