DEA Releases 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment
Part 2: The DEA’s Response to the Ongoing Drug Trafficking Crisis in the United States
This is Part 2 of a 2-part series focusing on the DEA’s response to the drug trafficking crisis in the United States. Part 1 was published in June and highlighted how illicit drugs enter and spread throughout the United States.
In May, the DEA Administrator released the 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA) of illicit drug threats and trafficking trends endangering the United States. This comprehensive overview sheds light on the intricate dynamics of drug trafficking and its devastating impact on communities in the United States. The assessment is used by law enforcement, policy makers, prevention and treatment agencies and serves as an information tool to educate the general public1. An all-out war against drug trafficking requires participation from every institution in our communities to protect public safety, health, and national security2.
Overview2
DEA has acted with urgency to set a new vision, target the global criminal networks most responsible for the influx of fentanyl into the United States, and raise public awareness about how just one pill can kill. As the single mission agency tasked with enforcing our nation’s drug laws, DEA’s top operational priority is to relentlessly pursue and defeat the two Mexican drug cartels—the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel—that are primarily responsible for driving the current fentanyl poisoning epidemic in the United States.
DEA operates 30 field divisions with 241 domestic offices, 93 foreign offices in 69 countries, and nine forensic laboratories. DEA’s robust domestic and international presence allows it to map and target Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel operations across the globe. In addition, DEA has launched three cross-agency counterthreat teams to execute a network-focused operational strategy to defeat the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels and their web of drug and illicit finance contacts. These teams are composed of Special Agents, Intelligence Analysts, Diversion Investigators, targeters, data scientists, and digital specialists doing the critical work of mapping, analyzing, and targeting the entirety of the cartels’ criminal networks. This network-focused strategy is crucial to defeating the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels.
The DEA’s Operations2
Operation Overdrive puts resources into the U.S.’s most violence- and overdose-plagued cities to target the violent dealers who kill thousands of Americans every week with fentanyl and with weapons. More than half of the 1,200 violent drug dealers arrested as part of the second phase of Operation Overdrive, from February through July 2023, were gang members. The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels aid and abet the local dealers and gangs, flooding U.S. streets with fentanyl in tablets disguised as legitimate prescription drugs, fentanyl powder, drugs laced with fentanyl, fentanyl mixed with xylazine, and other drugs. For example, an Operation Overdrive case revealed that a U.S.-based Mexican drug trafficking organization linked to the Jalisco Cartel supplied fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine to members of the Bloods gang operating in the Durham, North Carolina area. The second phase of Operation Overdrive resulted in 547 distinct seizures of fentanyl totaling more than 10 million deadly doses; 40 percent of those seizures were of fentanyl mixed with xylazine.
Operation OD Justice devotes resources to fatal poisoning investigations and provides training to our federal, state, and local partners. DEA created Fentanyl Overdose Response Teams in 22 offices across the United States; the teams provide direct investigative support to fatal poisoning investigations. Every DEA division also has an Overdose Response Coordinator who serves as a point of contact for DEA’s federal, state, and local partners. DEA collaborates jointly with these partners to identify the individuals responsible for supplying the fentanyl that killed its victims and pursue charges for fentanyl distribution resulting in death. Since 2023, DEA has worked over 350 poisoning investigations with state and local partners. DEA has trained over 2,500 federal, state, and local investigators to conduct fatal poisoning investigations with the goal of treating these incidents not only as public health crises but as crimes.
Operation Last Mile tracked distribution networks across the United States connected to the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels. The operation confirmed that the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels use violent street gangs and local criminal groups and individuals to flood U.S. communities with fentanyl and methamphetamine, driving addiction and violence, and killing Americans. It also revealed that the cartels, their members, and their affiliated drug trafficking organizations in the United States use social media platforms – like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat – and encrypted messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Wire, and Wickr, to coordinate logistics and communicate with victims.
Operation Last Mile comprised 1,436 investigations in collaboration with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners and resulted in 3,337 arrests. DEA and its partners seized 44 million fentanyl pills; over 6,500 pounds of fentanyl powder; more than 91,000 pounds of methamphetamine; 8,497 firearms; and in excess of $100 million. Together, the fentanyl pills and powder equate to almost 193 million deadly doses of fentanyl removed from U.S. communities, preventing countless potential drug poisoning deaths. Among these cases were hundreds that involved the use of social media and encrypted communications platforms
Laboratory Findings2
DEA forensic chemists perform an in-depth analysis on a random sampling of fentanyl pills and powder seized throughout the United States to provide an annual snapshot of the U.S. fentanyl market. In 2022, the average fentanyl pill contained 2.4 milligrams (mg) of fentanyl, ranging from a low of 0.03 mg to a high of 9 mg. A lethal dose of fentanyl is approximately 2 mg, depending on the user’s opiate tolerance and other factors. Based on these analyses, DEA forensic laboratory results documented that approximately 7 out of 10 fake pills contain a deadly dose of fentanyl, up from 4 in 10 pills in 2021. The average purity of the fentanyl powder samples was 19.2 percent, a 33 percent increase since 2021, ranging from exhibits that contained almost no fentanyl (.07 percent) to exhibits containing 81.5 percent pure fentanyl.
Access to Treatment2
Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) helps the roughly 6.1 million individuals in the United States who are fighting to overcome an opioid use disorder (OUD) by sustaining recovery and preventing opioid poisonings and overdoses. With the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 202315, there was an immediate and significant increase in the number of practitioners who can prescribe Schedule III MOUD products (e.g., buprenorphine combination medications containing buprenorphine and naloxone) for patients with OUD.
In addition, DEA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) developed and implemented the Opioid Rapid Response Program (ORRP) to mitigate patient harm and maintain continuity of patient care when DEA takes enforcement action on a prescriber registered with DEA to prescribe MOUD. Since the program started in the Fall of 2021, DEA has made 161 referrals to the ORRP. Continuity of care for individuals in treatment for OUD is essential to saving lives.
Community Outreach2
DEA’s community outreach efforts educate students, professionals in higher education, local communities, families, youth-serving organizations, and other community-based stakeholders to raise awareness about the dangers of illegal drugs and the importance of preventing drug use. That work includes annual Family Summits on Fentanyl in DEA field divisions across the country (www.dea.gov/familysummit) and the Faces of Fentanyl exhibit at the DEA Museum in Arlington, Virginia (www.dea.gov/fentanylawareness).
In 2021, DEA launched the “One Pill Can Kill” enforcement effort and public awareness campaign. Through this campaign, DEA and law enforcement partners have seized millions of fentanyl pills and thousands of pounds of fentanyl powder, equating to millions of potentially lethal doses of fentanyl, which could have entered our communities. The One Pill Can Kill webpage (www.dea.gov/onepill) and partner toolbox raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl and fake pills through shareable graphics, fact sheets, and other digital resources. Countless national, state, and local organizations have accepted DEA’s call to action and shared One Pill Can Kill materials in their communities.
The fight against drug use in the U.S. requires resources above and beyond the DEA. To assist with education and awareness, DEA disseminates science-based, evidence-informed prevention materials to target audiences through several websites:
DTPM’s Mission
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- https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2024/05/09/dea-releases-2024-national-drug-threat-assessment
- pdf (dea.gov)
