DEA: More Than 1 Million Fentanyl Pills Seized In Arizona This Year

By Al Macias
Published: Thursday, August 22, 2019 - 2:59pm
Updated: Friday, August 23, 2019 - 8:53am

Fentanyl pills
Drug Enforcement Administration
Fentanyl pills seized by the DEA in Arizona.

More than 1 million fentanyl pills have been seized in Arizona this year, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Doug Coleman, DEA special agent in charge, said fentanyl seizures have more than tripled in Arizona since 2016, when the pills were first reported.

"These pills are out there … they’re illicitly manufactured in Mexico. There’s no quality control, we don’t know what’s in them exactly and fentanyl can potentially be lethal," Coleman said. 

Coleman said Mexican cartels are producing the fentanyl and making the pills look like Oxycodone M-30 tablets.

“The proliferation of these pills trafficked into the U.S. by Mexican cartels and the sheer number of fentanyl pills seized in Arizona is alarming,” said Coleman. “The DEA and our law enforcement partners throughout the state are committed to taking deadly fentanyl off the streets and ensuring those who manufacture and traffic these lethal pills are held accountable to the communities and families they destroy with this dangerous drug.”