DEA.gov graphic on drug dealths.
OMAHA, NE (KELO.com) — The crisis at the southern border are magnifying drug problems throughout the U-S. Pills sold on the black market are held out to be prescription medications, and they look like the real thing. Public Information Officer Emily Murray of the Drug Enforcement Administration says looks are deceiving.
Because the pills look like legitimately manufactured prescription drugs, users assume they are safe enough to use to get high, but chances are strong that they may contain a fatal dose of fentanyl. Murray says there’s no such thing as a safe pill on the black market.
Law officers seized ten pounds of fentanyl in South Dakota last year. Just two milligrams of the drug can be fatal. Murray says more than four out of ten pills tested last year contained a potentially fatal dose.
South Dakota officials say drug crimes involving meth were down by nearly 15 percent in the state last year, but fentanyl-related crimes were up almost nine-percent. More than 110-thousand people died of drug overdoses in the U-S last year. Murray says the number of arrests, and drug poisoning cases is on the rise throughout the region.
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