Illicit Opioid Supply
Illicitly Manufactured Fentanyl (IMF)
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid typically used to treat patients with chronic severe pain or severe pain following surgery. Fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance that is similar to morphine, but about 100 times more potent.
Counterfeit prescription opioid pills have been found in all 50 states and are widely available in the US, often containing illicitly manufactured fentanyl in lethal amounts. Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl, the small amount that fits on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially deadly dose. Individuals unaccustomed to using opioids can experience severe adverse events at even lower doses.
Image: 2 mg of fentanyl, a potentially lethal dose, on a pencil tip.
Seizures
Law enforcement continues to seize record amounts of illicit fentanyl every year since 2013.
In 2023, nearly 79 million illicitly manufactured pills containing fentanyl were seized, more than triple the 23.6 million seized in 2021. The amount of powder fentanyl seized nearly doubled, from 6,875 kg in 2021 to 13,176 kg in 2023 (Figure 1).
In 2022, a total of 1.3 tons of fentanyl powder and 8,696,889 dosage units of fentanyl were seized from the Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties (ONDCP).
Profile of Seized Fentanyl
Fentanyl Tablets
Tablets containing fentanyl from US seizures has been increasing within the past five years, with an average 1.3 mg of fentanyl identified per tablet in 2017 to 2.4 mg in 2022 (Figure 2). Fentanyl tablets seized varied widely in the amount of fentanyl contained in them, ranging from a low of 0.03mg to a high of 9mg per tablet in 2022.
The percent of tablets tested containing at least 2 mg (lethal dose) has also increased in recent years, from 10% in 2017 to 65% in 2022 (Figure 3). In California, tablets sampled were shown to have a higher average dose than the national average, at 2.7 mg per tablet, ranging from 0.0 to 5.4 mg per tablet in 2022 (DEA FPP).
In 2022, the Drug Enforcement Agency Fentanyl Profiling Program found that approximately 5 in 10 fentanyl-laced counterfeit prescription pills contained a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, up from 4 in 10 pills in 2021.
Image: 5 in 10 counterfeit pills contains a lethal dose.
Fentanyl Powder
The average purity of fentanyl found in powders seized has gradually increased in recent years. In 2022, sampled powders from seizures throughout the US contained an average fentanyl purity level of 19.2%, ranging from 0.07% to 81.5% (Figure 4). In California, the average fentanyl purity level of seized powders was higher than the national average at 23.0%, ranging from 0.2% to 81.5% (DEA FPP).
Fentanyl found in tars and pastes seized across the US in 2022 had an average fentanyl purity ranging from 0.2% to 13.4% (DEA FPP).
References
Figure 1. United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA) 2024. https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2025-02/508_5.23.2024%20NDTA-updated.pdf
Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program 2024 Report to Congress. https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HIDTA-Annual-Report-to-Congress-2022.pdf
United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Fake Pills Fact Sheet. November 2024. https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2024-11/DEA-OPCK_FactSheet_November_2024.pdf
Figures 2-4. United States Drug Enforcement Administration Fentanyl Special Testing and Research Laboratory Fentanyl Profiling Program (DEA FPP). DEA Fentanyl Profiling Program Report, CY2021. https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2022-08/FPP%20Report%20CY%202021_DEA.gov_.pdf.
United States Drug Enforcement Administration Fentanyl Special Testing and Research Laboratory Fentanyl Profiling Program (DEA FPP). Fentanyl Profiling Program Report, CY2022. https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2024-09/CY%202022%20FPP%20Report_PUBLIC_0.pdf.
