Indiana State Police confiscated 15.8 pounds of what were believed to be fentanyl-laced pills and 4.4 pounds of pure fentanyl hidden under the rear passenger seat of a car on I-70 in September 2021. Photo provided
Indiana State Police confiscated 15.8 pounds of what were believed to be fentanyl-laced pills and 4.4 pounds of pure fentanyl hidden under the rear passenger seat of a car on I-70 in September 2021. Photo provided
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Avoiding fake pills
Four steps to avoid potentially dangerous fake prescription pills:

¦ Never take a pill that wasn’t prescribed directly to you.
¦ Never take a pill from a friend.
¦ Never take a pill bought on social media.
¦ Remember that just one pill is dangerous and can kill.” For further information, visit the ‘One Pill Can Kill’ website at dea.gov/onepill.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s One Pill Can Kill campaign stopped in Columbus recently to bring more awareness to the problem of fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills.

In 2022, the DEA reported six out of 10 fentanyl-laced fake pills analyzed contained a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl.

This is an increase from DEA’s previous announcement in 2021 that four out of 10 were found to be potentially deadly, the agency said.

Fentanyl is a deadly synthetic opioid pressed into fake pills or cut into heroin, cocaine and other street drugs to drive addiction. The highly addictive drug is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.

“The counterfeit pills we have seen in Columbus contain the markings M30,” said Columbus Police spokesman Lt. Matt Harris. “Six out of 10 M30 pills seized from the street contain a fatal fentanyl dosage.

As part of their response, the DEA created the “One Pill Can Kill” campaign, which essentially sends federal agents out to meet task force leaders and local law enforcement to bring awareness to the problem of fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Dept. spokesman Sgt. Dane Duke said.

A group of DEA experts made a recent visit to the sheriff’s department to urge local law enforcement to teach parents and children about these fake pills that claimed over 68,000 American deaths in 2020.

The overwhelming majority of overdose deaths in the Columbus area involve fentanyl, though most fatal overdoses involve multiple substances, Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting said in October.

Up to 70% of the 39 overdose deaths last year involved drugs containing fentanyl, said Sherri Jewett, executive director for the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress (ASAP) “That’s still a very significant risk,” the ASAP director said.

These pills are being mass-produced by the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel in Mexico, the DEA website states. Earlier this year, federal agents conducted a nationwide operational surge to target the trafficking of fentanyl-laced fake prescription pill. In just over three months, those agents seized 10.2 million fake pills in all 50 states.

Criminal drug networks continue to mass-produce these pills and falsely market them as legitimate prescription pills, according to the “One Pill Can Kill” website. Fake prescription pills are often sold on social media and e-commerce platforms, making them available to anyone with a smartphone, including minors.

The DEA also warns these pills are made in different colors, making them resemble candy.

“I don’t know if they are trying to sell those to young children, but that is certainly a risk,” Jewett said.

Many fake pills are made to look like prescription drugs such as oxycodone , hydrocodone, alprazolam or stimulants like amphetamines.

In late April, 2022, federal narcotics agents arrested two Columbus residents, as well as two others living in Seymour. A DEA spokesman said all four, as well as other suspects apprehended in Indiana, were allegedly part of the Sinaloa Cartel, a DEA spokesman said.

In response, ASAP began making fentanyl test strips available to the public last year, which Jewett says might have had a positive impact on the drop in overdose death. Test strips have become one of several evidencebased methods of confronting fentanyl addiction over the past four or five years, she said.

Education, as well as investigations by groups like the Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team, have also had a positive impact, Duke said.
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