A nationwide investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration has resulted in the arrests of more than 800 suspects and the seizure of 1.8 million fentanyl-laced pills.
The lethal drugs, including about 1,500 pounds of fentanyl powder, had the potential to kill more than 700,000 people, according to a statement released Thursday by the agency.
The operation that began on August 3 targeted criminal drug networks throughout the country for nearly two months.
During that time, agents seized an additional 8,843 pounds of methamphetamine, 1,440 pounds of cocaine and 158 weapons, according to the Department of Justice.
At least nine overdose deaths were also being investigated as part of the massive case.
Hundreds of suspects are facing a litany of felony charges that could lead to multiple decades in prison.
“This is a national emergency,” DEA administrator Anne Milgram said Thursday at a press conference, according to CBS News. “And this is just the start of the work that the DEA will do to address it.”
Earlier this week, federal drug officials issued a public safety alert — warning that lethal counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine were flooding the nation and causing a surge in overdose deaths, including more than 93,000 that occurred last year.
“Counterfeit pills that contain these dangerous and extremely addictive drugs are more lethal and more accessible than ever before,” Milgram said in a statement. “DEA is focusing resources on taking down the violent drug traffickers causing the greatest harm and posing the greatest threat to the safety and health of Americans. Today, we are alerting the public to this danger so that people have the information they need to protect themselves and their children.”
Fake pills have recently proliferated social media platforms — including Facebook Marketplace and Snapchat, where they are marketed to teenagers, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said, according to CBS News.
Several recent celebrity deaths have also highlighted the level of danger involved with drugs now circulating on the nation’s streets.
Stand-up comedian Fuquan Johnson was among three people who died Sept. 4 after ingesting cocaine laced with fentanyl, according to reports.
Acclaimed actor Michael K. Williams had fentanyl, parafluorofentanyl, heroin and cocaine in his system when he died Sept. 6 in Brooklyn, and police were said to be looking for a dealer who provided the drugs to him.
Actor Daniel Mickelson, 23, died last summer from a fentanyl-cocaine overdose, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed earlier this week.
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