KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s new special agent in charge for the St. Louis Division is urging parents to talk to their children about the dangers of counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, warning that cartels are using social media to sell the drugs directly to consumers.
Steven Hofer, who recently took over the St. Louis Division — which covers Missouri, Kansas, and Southern Illinois — said the threat is present in every community.
“The drug threat is immense right now — all over the entire country, in every community, every neighborhood,” Hofer said. “And that comes from primarily the emergence of the last few years of the synthetic opioids like fentanyl.”
‘You cannot buy a legitimate prescription pill on social media’
Hofer said illicit fentanyl — manufactured by cartels and smuggled into the United States — is distinct from the medical-grade fentanyl used in hospitals and nursing homes. He said the danger lies in how easily it can be hidden.
“The threat becomes the illicit fentanyl that finds its way into counterfeit pills or mixed in with other recreational illegal drugs,” Hofer said.
He said a lethal dose of fentanyl is only two milligrams, making it cheap to produce, easy to conceal, and simple to distribute through pill form.
Hofer said the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, are among the organizations profiting from fentanyl sales. He said counterfeit pills that cost only pennies to manufacture can sell for five to fifteen dollars each in the United States.
“They will stop at nothing to make sure that they can smuggle the illegal fentanyl into the United States,” Hofer said. He added that cartels have used thousands of different concealment methods — including hiding drugs inside consumer product packaging — to move fentanyl across the border.
Fentanyl in seized pills dropping, but still a threat
Hofer said DEA data shows progress in reducing the concentration of lethal fentanyl doses in seized pills, but cautioned the numbers remain dangerous.
“As of two years ago, the millions and millions of pills that DEA seized across the country, about 7 out of 10, about 70% of them contained a fentanyl, a lethal dose amount of fentanyl,” Hofer said. “We’ve gotten that down through our efforts. We’ve gotten that down to less than 30%, about 29% right now. But that’s still way too high of a percentage for anybody to take a chance.”
He credited the decline to collaboration among law enforcement agencies, community organizations, and public education efforts.
Social media as a drug marketplace
Hofer said buying prescription medication through social media has become an increasing trend in recent years. He said cartels use social media platforms as a storefront to reach buyers directly.
“The ruthless cartels that are selling them are finding a way to get into everybody’s storefront,” Hofer said. “They don’t have any care for the health and welfare of Americans and what it’s doing to our communities.”
His primary message: “You cannot buy a legitimate prescription pill on social media.”
Hofer said the only safe source for prescription medication is a licensed pharmacist filling a prescription from a provider. He said anything else carries a significant risk of containing a lethal dose of fentanyl.
Message to parents
Hofer said parents should begin conversations with their children as early as possible.
“Educate yourself, have the hard conversations with your kids, with your entire family,” Hofer said. “It is scary. And being educated will help to understand the threat that’s out there.”
He said DEA’s “One Pill Can Kill” and “Fentanyl Free America” campaigns offer resources for families. Parents can find more information at dea.gov.
Hofer said he met with 14 law enforcement agency heads during his first week in Kansas City and that all parties agreed public safety is the top priority. He said DEA is committed to sharing intelligence and resources with state, local, and federal partners across the region.
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