DEA Warns of Counterfeit Prescription Pills With High Fentanyl Levels

The Drug Enforcement Administration warned of “mass quantities of counterfeit prescription pills” from Mexico containing lethal amounts of fentanyl.

Drug cartels are manufacturing the pills for distribution throughout North America, and Arizona alone seized 1.4 million counterfeit pills in fiscal year 2019, up from approximately 400,000 pills seized the year prior, the agency said.

The DEA said that 27 percent of sampled tablets it seized nationwide between January and March 2019 contained potentially lethal doses of fentanyl. A lethal dose of fentanyl is about two milligrams, although this can vary based on various factors.