(Omaha) The five-state Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Omaha Division marked an 83 percent increase in the number of fentanyl pills seized in 2023 and removed an estimated 2.9 million lethal doses of fentanyl, both in pill and powder form, from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and eight counties along the western border of Illinois and Wisconsin. Nationally, DEA seized more than 77 million fentanyl pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of fentanyl, amounting to more than 386 million deadly doses, enough to kill every American.
Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren reports numerous overdoses on fentanyl in southwest Iowa. This overdosing is causing people to stop breathing and sometimes die. Law enforcement and emergency responders have saved many overdosed people but have also found several deceased.
Sheriff McLaren says in many cases; the victims are taking pills believed to be Oxycontin or don’t even know what they’re taking. McLaren says the pills are dangerous because drug dealers make them without expertise. McLaren says one pill may give the drug user the high they are looking for, and the next pill may be their death sentence. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. DEA laboratory testing in 2023 showed that 7 out of 10 pills tested contain a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl. This is an increase from 4 out of 10 pills in 2021 to 6 out of 10 in 2022. A potentially deadly dose is considered just two milligrams of fentanyl.
Sheriff McLaren urges anyone in the community who has information on dealing with this dangerous drug or using it to contact law enforcement.
Sheriff McLaren urges parents to talk to their children, even children old enough to be out of their house, about the choices they are making with illicit drugs. Drugs specifically that they think were manufactured and dispensed by a doctor or pharmacy. Do not take or buy pills from anyone except those prescribed to you by a doctor.
