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Weapons-grade chemical carfentanil surges as dangerous substitute for fentanyl
DEA labs found carfentanil 1,400 times in 2025, as traffickers may be using the drug to replace weakened fentanyl.
- In 2025, Drug Enforcement Administration labs identified carfentanil 1,400 times in U.S. drug seizures, a sharp increase from 145 in 2023 and 54 in 2022, marking a dangerous resurgence of the weapons-grade opioid.
- Responding to China's crackdown on fentanyl precursors, traffickers in Mexico are increasingly using carfentanil to fortify weakened fentanyl supplies, according to DEA intelligence bulletins reviewed by The Associated Press.
- Frank Tarentino, the DEA's chief of operations for its northeast region, warned that "not even a grain of salt" could be potentially lethal, as authorities deemed carfentanil 10,000 times more potent than morphine.
- Overdose deaths involving carfentanil nearly tripled to 413 in 2024 across 42 states and Washington, D.C., impacting victims like 36-year-old Michael Nalewaja of Alaska, while experts warn Narcan may be insufficient.
- Michael King Jr., founder of the Opioid Awareness Foundation, likened carfentanil to a "biological weapon," citing its 2002 deployment by Russian forces on Chechen separatists and warning the fentanyl crisis is "minute compared to what we're going to be dealing with.
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43 Articles
43 Articles
Coverage Details
Total News Sources43
Leaning Left16Leaning Right3Center20Last UpdatedBias Distribution51% Center
Bias Distribution
- 51% of the sources are Center
51% Center
L 41%
C 51%
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