Fact Sheet: Justice Department Actions to Counter the Scourge of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Drugs

Over the past several years, the Justice Department has focused on breaking apart every link in the global fentanyl supply chain – from China to Mexico to the United States.

Since the beginning of 2021, the Justice Department has:

• Extradited over 50 cartel members from Mexico to the United States; and
• Charged a dozen Chinese chemical companies and two dozen of their executives for shipping fentanyl precursor chemicals into Mexico and the United States.

This effort has been spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United States’ lead counter-narcotic law enforcement agency.

In 2024 alone, the DEA has:

• Seized over 30 million fentanyl pills and over 4,100 pounds of fentanyl powder, which represents over 208 million deadly doses; and
• Arrested over 2,100 individuals for fentanyl related charges working with its law enforcement partners.

As Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has said, “Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable.” 

Arresting and prosecuting cartel leaders, members, and their associates:

• In April 2023, the Justice Department announced charges against several leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, a transnational drug trafficking organization based in Sinaloa, Mexico, and its facilitators across the globe. 
• In October 2023, the Justice Department announced the extradition of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as El Chapo, from Mexico to the United States.
• In April 2024, the Justice Department charged 41 individuals in a 50-count indictment alleging cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, and meth trafficking and related crimes, all operating under the control of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (the Jalisco Cartel or CJNG).
• In May 2024, the Justice Department announced the extradition of Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as El Nini, who the Department alleges was one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s lead sicarios, or assassins.
• In May 2024, the Justice Department announced the extradition of Francisco Pulido after he allegedly supplied the Jalisco Cartel with precursor chemicals used to manufacture controlled substances.
• In July 2024, the Attorney General announced the arrests of alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael Zambada Garcia (El Mayo) and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, another son of El Chapo. Both men are facing multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks. El Mayo and Guzman Lopez join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates who the Justice Department is holding accountable in the United States.
• In the course of the investigation into the Chapitos network, the FBI and the DEA have arrested several high-profile targets, and the DEA has conducted operations in 10 countries and seized staggering amounts of illicit materials, including over 2.5 million fentanyl-laced pills, 105 kilograms of fentanyl powder, and 37 kilograms of fentanyl precursor chemicals, amounting to 22,747,441 potentially lethal doses.

Disrupting the chemical precursor supply chain:

• The Justice Department, DEA, and FBI have and will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute every link in the fentanyl supply chain, including the chemical companies and executives in the People’s Republic of China supplying the ingredients used to make this deadly drug.
• On Oct. 3, 2023, the Justice Department announced the unsealing of eight indictments charging China-based companies and their employees with crimes relating to fentanyl and methamphetamine production, distribution of synthetic opioids, and sales resulting from precursor chemicals. 
• In February 2024, the Department obtained a nearly 19-year sentence of a defendant responsible for importing tons of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China into Mexico as part of the Jalisco Cartel’s fentanyl trafficking operations.
• In May 2024, the Department extradited another of CJNG’s alleged key chemical suppliers.
• In June 2024, the Justice Department announced a 10-count superseding indictment following a multi-year investigation, named “Operation Fortune Runner,” charging associates of the Sinaloa Cartel with conspiring with money laundering groups linked to Chinese underground banking to launder drug trafficking proceeds. Following the Department’s announcement, China and Mexico took law enforcement actions to arrest fugitives named in the indictment who fled the United States after they were initially charged last year.

Additional actions to counter fentanyl’s fatal impact:

• Over the past year, the Justice Department has convicted dozens of defendants of distributing fentanyl that resulted in the death of the victim, leading courts to impose lengthy terms of incarceration on these drug dealers, including:
  • New York Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Conspiring to Distribute Fentanyl That Contributed to Two Poisoning Deaths
  • California Drug Dealer Sentenced to 78 Months in Fatal Fentanyl Overdose of U.S. Marine
  • Texas Men Sentenced to Decades in Prison for Supplying Fentanyl and Other Drugs Sold on Darknet and Causing Fatal ODs
  • Tennessee Man Sentenced to Life In Prison For Role In Fentanyl Overdose Death
  • Florida Man Sentenced To 40 Years In Prison For Distributing Fentanyl Resulting In Death
• DEA started Operation OD Justice to devote resources to fatal poisoning investigations and provide training to federal, state, and local partners. DEA created Fentanyl Overdose Response Teams in 22 offices across the United States; the teams provide investigative support to fatal poisoning investigations. Every DEA division also has an Overdose Response Coordinator for DEA’s federal, state, and local partners. Since 2023, DEA has worked over 350 poisoning investigations with partners.
• DEA has launched the “One Pill Can Kill” enforcement effort and public awareness campaign. DEA and law enforcement partners have seized millions of fake illicit fentanyl-laced prescription pills and hundreds of pounds of illicit fentanyl powder — millions of potentially lethal doses. In 2024, DEA expanded the One Pill Can Kill public awareness campaign to include a partnership with the NFL Alumni Health Association and launching the One Pill Can Kill Game Over esports tournament.

Targeting criminal enterprises on the Darknet:

• The Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team is a Justice Department initiative led by the FBI with a mission to target and disrupt criminal enterprises utilizing the Darknet or online platforms to facilitate drug trafficking, specifically opioids. JCODE led Operation SpecTor, a coordinated international law enforcement effort that resulted in 288 arrests and the seizure of 117 firearms, 850 kilograms of drugs, and $53.4 million in cash and cryptocurrency.
• JCODE’s successes include the arrest of an individual operating under the name “Redlightlabs,” who sold approximately 3,800 drug transactions between May-Nov 2022, totaling over 123,000 potentially lethal fentanyl pills, approximately 20 pounds of methamphetamine, and other illicit narcotics. After the FBI arrested the subject, a review of buyer data identified 15 drug overdose victims who purchased fentanyl-laced pills from “Redlightlabs.”

Building partnerships to combat transnational organized crime:

• The DEA is combating the availability of illegal pill presses by working with online retailers to educate them about the sale of pill presses and components used in the production of deadly fake pills. In February 2024, DEA issued a letter to e-commerce companies regarding their responsibility as regulated entities to comply with the recordkeeping, identification, and reporting requirements of the Controlled Substances Act as it relates to the distribution, importation, and exportation of pill press equipment.
• The FBI has dedicated additional resources to combat transnational organized crime on the front lines throughout Mexico and South and Central America, where the threat is emanating. Assistant Legal Attaches work with international partners to further investigations with U.S interests. The FBI also expands its presence in Mexico through Border Liaison Officers, a dedicated team of agents positioned in FBI Offices along the southwest border with unique authority to routinely work matters of U.S interests in Mexico. The FBI also works with nearly 3,000 task force officers across almost 300 task forces engaged in combating gangs and criminal enterprises that drive the fentanyl crisis.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) continues to work to choke off cartels’ access to weapons through Operation Southbound, the Department’s signature initiative to disrupt the trafficking of firearms from the United States to Mexico.