Federal immigration officials seized enough fentanyl — one of the deadliest drugs in the world — last year to kill nearly twice the entire population of the United States.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit revealed in a year-end report that in total, about 2,737 pounds of fentanyl were seized in Fiscal Year 2018, along with 7,103 pounds of heroin, and 225 pounds of chemicals used to make these deadly drugs.
“At the forefront of the fight, HSI seized more than 11,000 pounds on fentanyl and opioids in Fiscal Year 2018,” the report notes. “Combating the spread of opioids is a key part of the agency’s narcotics enforcement efforts.”
The nearly 3,000 pounds of fentanyl is enough to kill about 600 million individuals, nearly twice the population of the U.S. where about 330 million residents live.
Additionally, HSI officials say the amount of fentanyl seized in the U.S. last year is equivalent to seizing more than 4 million pill dosage units.- READ MORE