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570,000 fentanyl pills seized by DEA from Colorado in 1 week
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CBS Colorado, State

570,000 fentanyl pills seized by DEA from Colorado in 1 week

By Kasey Richardson | CBS Colorado The state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing underestimated how sick its members would be. Medicaid covers about 1.26 million people in Colorado. The department that runs Colorado’s Medicaid program overshot its budget for the most recent fiscal year by more than $120 million after underestimating how sick its members would be. Medicaid rolls were in flux over the last year as states started removing people for the first time since early 2020. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, states couldn’t kick people off Medicaid, meaning they spent much of the last year determining who still qualifies. For the fiscal year that ended in June, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing had to attempt to project n...
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China involvement in fentanyl crisis a ‘huge problem’, official says
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National, Westernslopenow.com

China involvement in fentanyl crisis a ‘huge problem’, official says

By Jamie Joseph | Westernslopenow.com China is a driving force behind much of the illegal drug trade in the United States, including fentanyl and marijuana, according to law enforcement authorities. Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Director Donnie Anderson says China’s involvement is a “huge problem.” “It’s been a problem here in Oklahoma since 2019 or 2020,” Anderson said Monday on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.” “It’s not just marijuana. It is directly related to the cartels. The Chinese criminal organizations are laundering money for the cartels, and they’re very good. … They’re the best we’ve ever seen.” READ THE FULL STORY AT WESTERNSLOPENOW.COM
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‘DEVASTATED’, the story of fentanyl in Colorado, will be shown Thursday in Fort Morgan
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

‘DEVASTATED’, the story of fentanyl in Colorado, will be shown Thursday in Fort Morgan

By DRAKE HUNTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The equivalent of a capacity school bus is killed each week by fentanyl, making the drug the leading cause of death for those ages 18 to 45 in America. It has been termed by the Drug Enforcement Administration as the "deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced." The story of fentanyl in Colorado, as told by the movie DEVASTATED, has been shown for the second time in Morgan County on the Eastern Plains this week. DEVASTATED delves into the stories of parents who have lost children to the drug, with members of law enforcement, addicts, dealers, politicians and the medical community participating in the movie. "The fentanyl issue is not only an epidemic issue statewide, but it is a monster in our own backyard affecting every aspect of o...
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In Mesa County, deputy recovers 48 pounds (220k pills) of fentanyl following vehicle pursuit
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Local, Out There Colorado

In Mesa County, deputy recovers 48 pounds (220k pills) of fentanyl following vehicle pursuit

By Piper Russell | Out There Colorado Law enforcement recovered 220,000 pills after a vehicle pursuit along Interstate 70, according to a press release from the Mesa County Sheriff's Office. A deputy with the Mesa County Sheriff's Office attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle traveling eastbound on I-70 near Fruita on Friday morning. The vehicle took off when the deputy exited his car. The deputy pursued the vehicle as it continued eastbound, taking Exit 26 and then getting back on I-70 going westbound. The deputy ended the pursuit for safety reasons. A Colorado State Patrol trooper put stop sticks on the road, but the vehicle continued down I-70 before exiting into Fruita. The vehicle continued into town but stopped near the intersection of West Pabor Avenue. READ THE FULL STOR...
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Study: Fentanyl-related deaths cost Colorado estimated $16 billion last year
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coloradopolitics.com, State

Study: Fentanyl-related deaths cost Colorado estimated $16 billion last year

By Noah Festenstein | Colorado Politics It only takes 2 milligrams of fentanyl to be fatal. A record 425.6 kilograms of fentanyl — enough to kill the state’s population between 16* and 26 times over, depending on the purity of the drugs — was seized in Colorado in 2023 by the Drug Enforcement Administration Rocky Mountain Field Division. That year, Colorado saw a staggering $16 billion in costs associated with fentanyl-related overdose deaths, according to a recent study by the Common Sense Institute. “Colorado’s fentanyl problem is growing, and it is increasingly costly,” the group said. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Colorado is charting a rise in potential money laundering. Could stopping it slow the fentanyl trade?
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State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado is charting a rise in potential money laundering. Could stopping it slow the fentanyl trade?

By Ernesto Cabral | The Colorado Sun Colorado money service businesses, such as check-cashing businesses and money forwarding services, filed a record number of reports last year of possible money laundering by people using their services, official data shows. In 2023, money services businesses flagged more than 22,000 transactions in Colorado they suspected were intended to convert money from crimes into usable cash, according to data from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN. That’s a 40% increase from the previous year and a 1,009% surge since 2014. The increase comes as federal authorities are eyeing the role money services businesses play in allowing fentanyl dealers — many associated with the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels in Mexico — to...
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Fentanyl coming to U.S. becoming more deadly, DEA says
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Colorado Springs Gazette, National

Fentanyl coming to U.S. becoming more deadly, DEA says

By Brett Rowland | Colorado Springs Gazette The illicit fentanyl coming from Mexican cartels is becoming more dangerous, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The purity level of illicit fentanyl in the U.S. drug market has increased and the amount of fentanyl found in counterfeit prescription pills has increased, making the nation's top drug threat even more dangerous, according to the DEA's most recent National Drug Threat Assessment. A lethal dose of the potent opioid is about 2 milligrams, depending on the opioid tolerance of the user. In 2022, the average fentanyl pill contained 2.4 milligrams of fentanyl, according to analysis by DEA forensic chemists who test random samples of the fentanyl seized in the U.S. Overall, the tested samples ranged from a low of .0...
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‘Devastated’ details the deadly fentanyl epidemic and calls Coloradans to action
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State

‘Devastated’ details the deadly fentanyl epidemic and calls Coloradans to action

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Overdoses believed to be driven largely by fentanyl-laced prescription drugs are setting records annually. The death count once was similar to the capacity of a high school classroom each week, marking the third largest cause of pediatric deaths behind firearm-related injuries and motor vehicle collisions, a report by UCLA Health reads. It has now grown beyond that analogy. The drug often kills those experimenting with it for the first time, with the Centers for Disease Control finding 86 percent of those adolescents dying of a fentanyl overdose had not previously experienced a drug overdose, according to a report in The Free Press. Introduction of Fentanyl has been especially devastating in Colorado, where the Department of Public Health ...
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Colorado House Democrats kill proposal pushing for tougher approach to fentanyl crisis
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coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado House Democrats kill proposal pushing for tougher approach to fentanyl crisis

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Michael Fiore, the outreach coordinator for Voices for Awareness and Project Facing Fentanyl, remembered selling drugs to support his addiction and skating through the system before getting clean — after serving a prison term in New York. Fiori said when people figure out they only need to carry less than 4 grams and all they will face, if caught, is a simple misdemeanor, they will do that. Addicts, he said, do not learn until they are held accountable. “Sympathy causes a disconnect in recovery,” the once 20-year addict told members of the House Judiciary Committee during a late-night hearing on Wednesday. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Enough fentanyl to ‘kill global population — nearly twice over’ seized last year in California
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National, THE HILL

Enough fentanyl to ‘kill global population — nearly twice over’ seized last year in California

By LAUREN IRWIN | The Hill California seized a record amount of fentanyl in 2023, enough to potentially kill the global population “nearly twice over,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Tuesday. Last year, 62,224 pounds of fentanyl was seized in California and at the state’s ports of entry. Since 2021, seizures by the California National Guard increased by 1,066 percent. “Fentanyl is a poison, and it does not belong in our communities,” Newsom said. “California is cracking down – increasing seizures, expanding access to substance abuse treatment, and holding drug traffickers accountable to combat the immeasurable harm opioids have caused our communities.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE HILL
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