Fentanyl can be ingested in many ways, and many can lead to overdoses or death. | File
Fentanyl can be ingested in many ways, and many can lead to overdoses or death. | File
About three years ago, Waterloo Police Capt. David Mohlis started seeing reports of a new kind of poison on the local drug scene: Fentanyl.
These days the Waterloo Police Department deals with it on a regular basis, Mohlis told Waterloo Times.
“We have started to see more and more laced counterfeit pills with fentanyl," he said. "First saw it arrive around three years ago. We get a report on average of one or two overdoes a week that are related to fentanyl.”
Sometimes the drug exacts the ultimate cost a user, Mohlis said, adding, “There has been 10 deaths in the last three years that we have associated with the fentanyl being a contributing factor to the person’s death.”
Waterloo, in eastern Iowa, is the county seat of Black Hawk County, with a population of 67,314.
There was a 20% increase in fentanyl overdoses in Iowa between 2019 and 2020. The Des Moines-based Carr Law Firm found that one of the leading causes of these overdoses is the contamination of other street drugs such as heroin with fentanyl.
The DEA reported that in Iowa, it has seized more than 15,000 counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl in 2021, over triple the amount seized in 2020. The DEA’s analysis concluded that two in five counterfeit pills could lead to a lethal overdose. Federal officials noted that the vast majority of these counterfeit pills are produced in Mexico.
Mohlis is the commander of the department’s administration division. He has been with the Waterloo Police Department since 1991, holding a number of positions, including commander of the investigations division and the Patrol Watch. Mohlis is a past president of the Iowa State Police Association.
He said Waterloo is one of many Iowa cities and towns dealing with fentanyl.
“We have seen an uptick in the drug, but not as bad as some other communities in Iowa,” he said. “This drug affects all races, since it can be associated with several drugs being mixed with fentanyl [pills, cocaine, and methamphetamine].”
The captain said there is no mystery to the source of this substance.
“Just like all illegal drugs, it comes from the southern border,” he said.
Fentanyl seizures at the southern border have already more than doubled the 2020 numbers. The drug seizure statistics tool run by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agency disclosed last week that agents had already seized 9,337 pounds of fentanyl by the end of July 2021, a 94% increase from the 4,791 pounds seized in the entirety of the year 2020. In 2019, the agency seized just 2,804 pounds.
The volume of fentanyl seized at the Southern border is potent enough to kill 2 billion people. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug. Opioid overdoses have accounted for 70% of the 841,000 drug-related deaths since 1991. 2021 is set to break the all-time record for drug overdoses in the U.S.
The state of West Virginia has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the decision to end migrant protection protocols (MPP) put in place by former President Donald Trump.
“By its consequences burdening and distracting the Border Patrol, the termination of the MPP decreases the security of the border against fentanyl trafficking between ports of entry, leading directly to both increased numbers of smuggling attempts and increased rates of success in evading Border Patrol,” the lawsuit states.
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