Fentanyl fueling worst drug crisis in U.S. history, killing 70,000 a year | 60 Minutes
Summary
TLDRThe US is facing its deadliest drug crisis with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin, causing over 70,000 deaths annually. Originating from China and produced by Mexican cartels, it's often disguised as prescription pills. Despite efforts by the DEA and border control, the drug's accessibility and addictiveness claim many lives, including teens, with social media exacerbating the issue.
Takeaways
- 🚨 The US is experiencing its worst drug crisis with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin.
- 🌐 Fentanyl is primarily produced in Mexico by two major drug cartels using chemicals sourced mainly from China.
- 💊 The drug is often concealed in counterfeit pills that resemble legitimate prescription medications.
- 📉 In a single year, over 70,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses, surpassing the combined US military casualties in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
- 👨👩👦👦 The crisis affects all demographics, including college students, as illustrated by the tragic story of Jack O'Kelly.
- 📉 Fentanyl is now present in all 50 states and is a significant contributor to the opioid crisis.
- 🔍 DEA Administrator Anne Milgram has been fighting the fentanyl crisis, seizing large quantities of the drug and indicting those involved in the supply chain.
- 🚔 US Customs and Border Protection face immense challenges in detecting and intercepting fentanyl at ports of entry.
- 🌐 The cartels' operations are global, starting in China, moving through Mexico, and entering the US.
- 💼 The US pharmaceutical industry's role in the opioid crisis inadvertently paved the way for the Mexican cartels to dominate the fentanyl market.
- 📱 Social media platforms are being exploited by cartels to organize operations and sell drugs, contributing to the ongoing crisis.
Q & A
What is the current crisis in the US related to drugs?
-The US is experiencing the worst drug crisis in its history, involving the drug fentanyl, which is a purely chemical man-made drug that is cheap to produce, easily smuggled, and highly addictive.
How potent is fentanyl compared to heroin?
-Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin.
Where is most of the fentanyl entering the US coming from?
-Nearly all the fentanyl flooding into the US is made in Mexico by two powerful drug cartels, with chemicals primarily purchased from China.
What is the impact of fentanyl on American lives?
-Last year, more than 70,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdose, which is a higher death toll than US military casualties in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined.
What was the cause of death for Jack O'Kelly, as mentioned in the script?
-Jack O'Kelly, a 20-year-old college student, died from fentanyl poisoning after unknowingly taking a counterfeit pill that was laced with fentanyl.
What is the typical form in which fentanyl is sold to consumers?
-Fentanyl is often sold in pill form, deliberately made to look like real prescription drugs such as oxycodone, Xanax, Percocet, or Adderall.
How does the DEA describe the impact of fentanyl on the United States?
-The DEA states that fentanyl is impacting every part of the United States, including communities, kids, and the economy.
What are the two Mexican drug cartels primarily responsible for the fentanyl crisis?
-The Cala cartel and the Sinaloa cartel are the two Mexican drug cartels primarily responsible for the fentanyl crisis.
How does fentanyl typically enter the United States?
-The majority of fentanyl enters the United States through legal ports of entry, often hidden in passenger vehicles.
What challenges does the US Customs and Border Protection face in intercepting fentanyl?
-US Customs and Border Protection faces challenges such as limited resources to search vehicles, the need for more officers and agents, and the cartels' constant adaptation to avoid detection.
How does the script suggest that social media is contributing to the fentanyl crisis?
-Social media platforms are being used by cartels to organize themselves, recruit individuals to carry drugs across the border, and sell drugs through online posts and advertisements.
Outlines
💊 Fentanyl Crisis in the US
The paragraph discusses the severity of the fentanyl crisis in the US, describing it as the worst drug crisis in history. Fentanyl is a synthetic, man-made drug that is cheap to produce, highly addictive, and much more potent than heroin. It is primarily manufactured in Mexico by two major drug cartels using chemicals from China and is often disguised in counterfeit pills resembling prescription drugs. The death toll is alarming, with over 70,000 American deaths in the last year alone, surpassing the combined US military casualties in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The narrative includes a personal account of a family who lost their son to fentanyl, emphasizing the drug's indiscriminate impact on society. It also touches on the drug's prevalence in cities and towns across all 50 states and its common concealment in other drugs like cocaine or methamphetamine.
🛃 Combating the Fentanyl Epidemic
This paragraph focuses on the efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) under the leadership of a former Attorney General of New Jersey. Despite the deaths seeming to plateau, fentanyl continues to devastate communities, children, and the economy. The paragraph highlights the DEA's initiatives to combat the drug, including seizing large quantities of fentanyl and indicting members of the cartels involved. It also discusses the cartels' operations, which are based in Mexico and have a global supply chain starting in China and ending in the US. The paragraph also addresses the challenges faced by US Customs and Border Protection in intercepting fentanyl at ports of entry, particularly the high volume of traffic and the cartels' adaptive smuggling tactics. The need for more resources and a unified approach to tackle the crisis is emphasized.
🚨 The Cartels' Business Model and Social Media's Role
The final paragraph delves into the business-oriented nature of the Mexican drug cartels and their strategic move into fentanyl following the US opioid crisis. It suggests that the pharmaceutical industry inadvertently paved the way for cartels by creating a market of opioid addicts. The paragraph also discusses the role of social media platforms in facilitating the drug trade, with cartels using these platforms to organize operations, recruit drug mules, and advertise drugs. The paragraph concludes with a call to action, emphasizing the need for awareness about the dangers of fentanyl and the urgency of the situation, as it is described as a new drug war with devastating consequences for the younger generation.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Fentanyl
💡Drug Cartels
💡Counterfeit Pills
💡Addictive Punch
💡Overdose
💡China
💡Smuggled
💡DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)
💡Opioid Crisis
💡Misuse of Drugs
Highlights
The US is facing the worst drug crisis in its history with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.
Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin and is often found in counterfeit pills.
Most fentanyl in the US is produced by Mexican cartels using chemicals from China.
Over 70,000 Americans died from fentanyl in the last year, exceeding US military casualties in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined.
Fentanyl is often hidden in other drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, or heroin.
The drug is smuggled into the US through legal ports of entry, often in passenger vehicles.
The DEA has been seizing millions of lethal doses of fentanyl, but the crisis continues.
The cartels are responsible for nearly 70,000 American deaths a year.
US Customs and Border Protection is seizing large quantities of fentanyl but needs more resources.
The opioid crisis in the US created a demand that Mexican cartels have filled with fentanyl.
The pharmaceutical industry's role in the opioid crisis indirectly led to the rise of fentanyl.
Social media platforms are being used to sell fentanyl and organize drug trafficking.
Fentanyl overdoses are difficult to reverse, often requiring more than one dose of Narcan.
The crisis is affecting all communities and age groups, including teenagers.
The DEA is working to combat fentanyl distribution, but more needs to be done.
The US is losing a generation to fentanyl, with a significant impact on society and the economy.
The fentanyl crisis is a new type of drug war, different from past experiences.
Transcripts
we are in the midst of the worst drug
crisis in US history the drug is fenel
and unlike cocaine and heroin it's a
purely chemical man-made drug it's cheap
to produce easily smuggled and packs an
incredibly addictive punch 50 times more
powerful than heroin nearly all the
fenel flooding into the US is made in
Mexico by two powerful drug cartels with
chemicals primarily purchased from China
and as you're about to hear it is
frequently hidden in counterfeit pills
made to look just like prescription
drugs it's the scourge of our time last
year more than 70,000 Americans died
from fentanyl that's a higher death toll
than US military casualties in Vietnam
Iraq and Afghanistan
combined the story will continue in a
moment we were so naive to fentel we
thought fenel you hear about it but you
think oh that's just affecting people on
the streets homeless people drug addicts
no it is so Insidious Angela King and
Mike O Kelly lost their 20-year-old son
jack to fenel last Thanksgiving a junior
at the University of Georgia Jack had
come home for the long weekend and was
out late partying he was at a friend's
house um so I had gone to to bed little
worried the next morning he couldn't
reach Jack so he used find my iPhone
when I could see where he was I texted
the mother of the house who uh basically
sent me a message back oh we're not
there uh doors unlocked their asleep at
11:00 Thanksgiving morning Mike went
upstairs and found his son in bed
unresponsive I noticed his chest wasn't
moving so I immediately pulled him out
of the bed
I had to perform CPR
for 30 plus
minutes Mike called me
and screaming in the
phone Jack's gone Jack's
gone and I immediately rushed over there
with one of our
children and
the EMT had arrived and was working on
Jack
upstairs and it was the most
horrific
traumatic there's there's not words Jack
O Kelly was Captain of his high school
football and lacrosse teams he was
studying business at Georgia and was a
popular member of his fraternity have
you been able to piece
together why take a pill was this his
first time I think he was just out
having a good
time and making made a stupid mistake
you know the the experimental days of
taking drugs in college are
over they're they're all you know all
the pills are laced with ventel Mike and
Angela found text messages between Jack
and a drug dealer he bought what he
thought was Xanax oxycodone and a gram
of cocaine but the death certificate
States Fel was the cause of death he
wasn't seeking fenel he made a really
bad decision not one that should have
taken his life though sounds like you've
had a crash course in learning about
fent absolutely absolutely which is
shocking to me because at the rate that
fentel is killing people in this
country it
is absolutely ludicrous that this is not
on the front page of every newspaper and
every news broadcast daily fentanyl is a
synthetic opioid a chemical cousin to
Morphine originally designed for
hospital patients in extreme pain now it
is in cities and towns in all 50 states
frequent users heat up fental powder and
inhale it but more often it's sold in
pill form deliberately made to look like
real prescription drugs the one on the
left contains fentanyl just 2 mg and a
amount that fits on the tip of a pencil
can kill the cartels don't sell fentanyl
as fentanyl they hide it in other drugs
like cocaine or Methamphetamine or
heroin they make it into these fake
pills that look identical to
pharmaceutical drugs that Americans
would recognize like oxy or xanax
Percocet Aderall it will be a very
massive high that is very short and that
person they beding if they survive will
come back again again and again and
again to buy more 3 years ago an Milgram
a former Attorney General of New Jersey
took over the Drug Enforcement
Administration since then fentel has
claimed more than 200,000 American lives
although deaths appear to be leveling
off fenel is impacting every part of the
United States it's impacting our
communities it's impacting our kids it's
impacting our economy one of the things
that I've learned over the last few
years that really stays with me is every
single week we lose 22 teens between the
ages of 14 and 18 every week every
single week we're basically losing a
high school class somewhere in America
she started putting pictures of people
who died from fentanyl in the lobby of
DEA headquarters a daily reminder of the
Drug's catastrophic impact we're losing
a generation that's what this is yes you
can see it so clearly when you look and
you see Americans from all walks of life
life all states all communities young
and old every background possible we
have folks in military uniforms we've
got babies oh my God some who just picks
up a pill that a parent dropped yes the
DEA is part of the Department of Justice
and conducts intelligence gathering and
counter drug operations worldwide mgram
oversees 10,000 employees as complex and
as massive a problem as this is it's
also not a who done it we know who's
responsible it's the caloa cartel and
the halisco cartel that are based in
Mexico they Dominate and control the
entire Global fenel supply chain
starting in China going to Mexico coming
into the United States Milgram told us
this Crisis began 10 years ago when the
cartels started to wrestle control of
the supply chain from China and began
making fentel in clandestine labs in
Mexico so these two drug cartels from
our neighbor
from Mexico are responsible for almost
70,000 American deaths a year yes how do
you fight that we've taken action over
the last three years against every
single part of that Global Supply Chain
charging Chinese Nationals with selling
fenel precursors charging and indicting
investigating members of these cartels
at every level and then finally taking
hundreds of millions of deadly doses of
Fenton off American streets and we're
making progress but there's so much more
that needs to be done the majority of
the the fentel that we're seeing about
90 plus% is coming in passenger vehicles
commissioner Troy Miller a 30-year
veteran of US Customs and Border
Protection told us almost all the fenel
coming into the country is smuggled
through legal ports of Entry like here
at San edro between San Diego and
Tijuana it's the busiest landport in the
Western Hemisphere what percentage of
the smuggled fentanyl do you think you
are catching you know Bill I I don't
know what percentage we're we're
catching but I can tell you we've seized
27,000 lbs of Fentanyl and uh fiscal
year
2023 Miller took us for a bird's eyee
view to see the magnitude of the
challenge so th this is the Wall comes
right up to the Port of Entry it resumes
here that's
Mexico more than 60,000 car s snake
through 34 Lanes
24/7 officers have a minute or less to
decide who gets a second look and they
only have the resources to search 8% of
the cars dogs trained to sniff out fenel
are some of their best
assets the cartels are constantly
adapting for example hiding pills in gas
tanks to mask the scent so we're in the
seizure Vault commissioner Miller showed
us rack after rack of seized drugs
locked in this massive Vault for
security reasons we agreed not to
divulge its location so explain to me
why the Smugglers would use the busiest
port as their main smuggling route I
mean it seems counterintuitive why not
do it someplace much less conspicuous
why not come across the desert well in
the San Diego field office we're seeing
200,000 people a day every one of these
200,000 people is presenting themselves
as a legitimate traveler we were
astonished to learn 2third of the people
arrested smuggling fenel are American
citizens paid by the cartels we've seen
terrible Trends we've seen high school
middle schoolers
smuggling um Fentanyl and dropping it
off to a cartel member at a high school
do you have the budget and the Manpower
you need I've been very clear that
Customs and Border Protection need needs
more officers we need more agents we
need more Intel research Specialists to
distill that information we asked him
about the bipartisan border Bill killed
by the Senate at the urging of former
president Donald Trump it would have
provided 1,500 new border and Customs
officers and 100 high-tech detection
machines the bill had money for much of
the stuff you were talking about is the
political in action is that costing
lives what I what I again what I can say
is we need more resources to do our job
and we need to all get on the same page
and Tackle This
Together Sher Hopson saw the fenel
crisis coming as an assistant us
attorney in San Diego she prosecuted
Mexican cartel cases for 30 years before
retiring in 2020 cartels are very
business-oriented they look for profit
they look for perpetual power they're
institutionalized it sounds like you're
saying they're very sophisticated they
are they do their homework they do their
analysis she says the cartel's move into
fentel was entirely predictable when the
US opioid crisis triggered a Crackdown
on the drug industry and many companies
were sued by ravaged communities the
supply of legal opioids dried up but the
demand from Americans addicted to the
drugs did not it's very strange to think
that the pharmaceutical industry
basically set the table for the Mexican
cartels to come in and dominate that's
that's that's incredible it is so I
think what happened was they said you
know what we have an open market we have
millions of people that are addicted to
oxycodone we can do fol uh we can create
these counterfeit pills and we can we
can sell them so the Mexican cartels
just filled this vacuum filled the void
fill the vacuum so the opioid epidemic
definitely started this Arc that we're
on the head of the DEA Anne mgrm agrees
the US drug industry Bears a lot of
blame for igniting the crisis but says
social media companies are fueling it
today the companies say they're taking
steps to combat this and what's
happening on social media the cartels
use it to organize themselves to get
individuals who will carry the drugs
across the border from Mexico to post
ads for drugs and to sell drugs whether
it's Snapchat Instagram Tik
Tok there are drugs being sold there
every single day and seven out of 10 of
those counterfeit pills the DEA tests
have a potentially deadly dose of
fentanyl Angela King and Mike O Kelly
say that's information every American
needs to know it it's a war it's it's a
New Drug War and that drug war is
totally different than anything we've
ever dealt with before cuz now we're
losing our young ones and what ever the
government's trying to do I'm glad
they're doing something it's just
doesn't seem to be
enough how do you reverse a fenel
overdose even if someone were able to
get an AR can just one or two doses
might not be enough at 60 minutes
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