America’s leading agency to combat drug trafficking warned on Wednesday that there is a rise in cases of “mass overdoses” involving drugs such as cocaine mixed with lethal doses of fentanyl.
In a letter addressed to the police authorities in United Statesthe Drug Control Administration The DEA cited seven incidents since January in which multiple people overdosed and died in the same location after unintentionally ingesting doses of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.
“In the last two months alone, there have been at least seven confirmed cases of mass overdoses throughout United States (…), with the result of 29 deaths due to overdose,” the DEA recorded in the letter.
“Many of the victims of these massive overdoses thought they were using cocaine and had no idea they were actually taking fentanyl.”
The DEA cited a Jan. 28 case in which 10 people on the same Washington city block overdosed after taking crack cocaine laced with fentanyl. Nine out of ten died.
On March 4 at a homeless shelter in AustinTexas, 21 people overdosed and three died after using crack cocaine. cocaine and methamphetamines that included fentanyl.
Other cases like those of overdose occurred south of Floridaon Colorado, Nebraska and Missourirevealing the magnitude of the problem.
“Fentanyl is highly addictive, found in all 50 states and drug dealers are increasingly mixing it with other types of drugs — in powder or pill form — in an effort to increase addiction and attract repeat buyers,” the DEA said.
The agency says traffickers are putting fentanyl in pills with fake prescriptions like OxyContin, percocet and Vicodinwhich are popular with addicts.
Fentanyl—which is cheaper to make and deadly in small amounts—and other synthetic opioids were involved in two-thirds of the 105,000 overdose deaths in United States in 2021 (until October).
The agency instructed local authorities to assume that fentanyl is present in any drug they come across.