HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — DEA agents are seeing an increase in the number of fentanyl-laced pills seized by their organization in Virginia. They say they’re going after the cartels manufacturing these pills, and they need your help spreading the word to other potential victims.
“In 2023, the DEA, the Washington Division, we saw a 260% increase in the amount of fentanyl pills in Virginia,” said Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget. “That’s 415,300 fake pills.”
Fake pills made to look like medication—Oxycontin, Percocet and Xanax. Forget said they’re being sold on the internet to people wanting a quick hit, or those who can’t get pain medication from their doctors. But it just takes one pill to end a life.
“And we know at DEA that seven out of every 10 pills that we seize at DEA contain a deadly amount of fentanyl,” Forget said.
It’s the deadliest drug threat facing the nation right now — and it’ll only cost you between $5 and $30.
“These pills are being made, predominantly by two cartels, the Sinaloa and the Jalisco cartels,” Forget said. “And those cartels are obviously in Mexico getting the chemicals, precursor chemicals from China. But those two cartels are in Virginia.”