DEA seizes 2,000 fentanyl pills hidden in hollowed-out dictionary

The Drug Enforcement Administration seized 2,000 fentanyl pills hidden in a dictionary, the agency posted on Twitter.

The DEA's Las Vegas office shared a picture of the bust that showed two large ziplock bags filled with blue fentanyl pills that were hidden in a hollowed-out English dictionary. 

This comes after the agency reported this week that in 2022 it confiscated more than 379 million doses of fentanyl.

In total, the DEA confiscated more than 50.6 million fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, enough to kill every American, the agency said.

Regina LaBelle, director of the Addiction and Public Policy Initiative at the O'Neill Institute at Georgetown University, told CBS News that the DEA seizures are important but they're just a small part of a bigger issue. Last year, more than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday, and LaBelle said they were primarily driven by fentanyl.

She said fentanyl is so dangerous because it often looks like other kinds of pills. LaBelle also noted that while substance use is at record low rates for adolescents, there has been an increase in overdose deaths in that same group. LaBelle said she believes that young people are accidentally overdosing, believing they are consuming Xanax or other medications purchased online but instead are taking pressed fentanyl. 

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who oversees the DEA, says fentanyl is the agency's top priority. 

Monaco said the Justice Department is pushing social media companies to crack down on dealers, calling the crisis "a national security issue," "a public safety issue" and "a public health issue."

"We're asking them to do more," she told CBS News. "They need to do more. They need to be policing their platforms. … They need to use, quite frankly, the same tools and the technology that allows them to exquisitely serve up those ads for all sorts of things that we're buying online and identify those drug dealers and getting them off."

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