‘Nothing we’ve experienced before’ DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division seized millions of fentanyl doses in 2022

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- More than 5.8 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl were seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Rocky Mountain Division in 2022.

This division, which covers Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, recorded seizing nearly two million fentanyl pills and more than 150 pounds of fentanyl powder.

“For the first time in my 31-year law enforcement career, we are seeing an oversaturated drug market.  Anyone, including our kids, can buy dangerous and deadly drugs at the click of a button. This is like nothing we’ve experienced before and it makes our jobs as narcotics officers far more challenging and critical than ever before,” said Special Agent in Charge Brian Besser of the Rocky Mountain Division in a press release.  “We are geographically at the crossroads of the west; and this quite literally places the Rocky Mountain Division on the front lines in the fight to save lives. You have my pledge that we will continue to do everything within our ability to keep this poison from reaching your communities.”

In 2021, the DEA reports the Rocky Mountain Division seized more than 619,000 fentanyl pills. This was a year the DEA issued a Public Safety Alert on the drug trafficking of fentanyl in the form of fake prescription pills.

According to the DEA, the administration seized totals of more than 50.6 million fentanyl pills and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder nationwide. Officials said the DEA Laboratory estimates that these seizures represent more than 379 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl.

The DEA said those doses equate "to enough fentanyl to kill every American."

In November 2022, the DEA reported a nationwide increase in the lethality of fentanyl pills. According to officials, DEA Laboratory testing revealed six out of ten pills contained a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl in 2022.

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