MARIETTA, Ga. — The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said in 2023, the agency seized a record 79.5 million fentanyl pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder across the country.
"Unfortunately, metro Atlanta is a very key part in this because we are the hub for most of the drugs coming in and out and money going back to the Mexican cartels," Special Agent in Charge Robert Murphy said.
Murphy said two of the biggest cartels, the Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel, smuggle the drugs across the border, including fentanyl, which ends up in schools and on the streets across Georgia.
On May 3, Murphy said the Atlanta Field Division seized a large amount of fentanyl from an undisclosed location in Marietta.
"In Marietta, we seized 11 Kilos of powered fentanyl from the CJNG organization operation," he said.
Murphy said the dyed powder was smuggled across the border inside car batteries.
"I can't tell you how many thousands of lives we saved but we did," he said.
The DEA said the 11 Kilos could've made around 11 million pills.
"I don't think any kids seek it out, but this is what the reality of taking a pill on the street nowadays is, you're more than likely getting fentanyl," Murphy explained.
New statistics released by the DEA show that 22 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18 are dying each week from drug overdoses/poisonings.
Murphy said a majority of those teen's deaths are tied to fentanyl.
"Out of the pills we seize and send to our laboratory for testing, seven out of ten of them have a fatal dose of fentanyl in them," he said.
Many of the pills are dyed bright colors, referred to as 'rainbow fentanyl,' which is done purposely to target young people. The fake pills are disguised as Adderall, Oxycodone and Xanax.
"It's in every school," Murphy said, adding later, "they (kids) don't fear this because it's a pill."
An epidemic leaving thousands of families heartbroken. Many families across metro Atlanta are seeing the impact of this deadly drug firsthand.
"I lost my 21-year-old son last year in June to Fentanyl poisoning," Chimere Conner said.
Crispus LaShon Conner was a 2020 graduate from Shiloh High School in Gwinnett County.
"He had a very bright future ahead of himself," Conner said.
However, his life was cut short on June 17, 2023.
Conner said her son thought he was taking a Xanax, which she said he got from a trusted friend.
"...which wind up taking his life in less than thirty seconds," she said.
Conner said she found her son on the floor next to his bed.
"He had a half of a pill still stuck between his lips." she said.
Shon hadn't even swallowed the pill. Conner said it was so potent it killed him within 30 seconds of touching his lips.
"He just died instantly," she said.
Conner is now making it her mission to help prevent other parents from having to bury their children because of this deadly drug.
"You can't trust anything off the street," she said.
As to why fentanyl is so prevalent in this country and across metro Atlanta, the DEA said that the cartel makes so much money off of it.
"It's cheaper to make, it's profitable, you don't have to worry about growing seasons, climates and the cartels can control it all," Murphy explained.
Murphy said their agency sees this as a national security threat. And when it comes to drugs, the biggest threat he's ever seen since joining the agency in 1997.
"We are losing over 300 Americans a day, it's a tragic and an unbelievable problem," he explained.
A problem right in our backyard in Atlanta.
"The quantities we're seizing in Atlanta, we haven't seen these kinds of quantities in several years. We made progress and now we're going backwards," Murphy said.
A direction that is going to take more lives.
Conner said parents need to talk with their kids and tell them to stop getting these pills off the street.
What many parents and teenagers haven't heard of is something referred to as the 'Chocolate Chip Effect.'
Chemists are not making these fake pills. The fentanyl is not being mixed evenly when pressed into a pill form.
Much like a chocolate chip cookie, if you split a fake pill in half, one side may have all the fentanyl (chocolate chips) in it, while the other side may not have any. That means, for example, if your child splits what they believe is an Adderall with a friend, their friend might be fine, while your child goes into cardiac arrest and dies.
Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl, equal to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, is considered a lethal dose.