Fentanyl continues to be one of the deadly drugs in the El Paso area as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized over a million pills in West Texas and New Mexico in 2023, authorities said.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration El Paso Field Division, which oversees West Texas and New Mexico, seized 1.5 million fentanyl pills and nearly 165 pounds of fentanyl powder in 2023, DEA El Paso officials said.
The amount seized in 2023 was lower than 2022 but remains at a high level and is the leading cause of overdose deaths in the U.S. In 2022, DEA El Paso seized 2,886,783 fentanyl-laced pills and 261.5 pounds of fentanyl powder.
The DEA seized more than 77 million fentanyl pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder across the U.S. in 2023, officials said.
“Today, fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45,” DEA officials said in a statement. “This is the most fentanyl seized by DEA in a single year. It amounts to more than 386 million deadly doses of fentanyl — enough to kill every American.”