The DEA on Monday issued a letter to online retailers that sell tablet presses, notifying them that they must report sales of these presses to the DEA.
According to the DEA, pill presses are often used to disguise the deadly opioid fentanyl by duplicating existing prescription drugs. These duplicate pills are sold to people who usually don’t realize they’re buying fentanyl. These pill presses are surprisingly easy to find online and sell for as little as $40. This is partially fueling the scourge of overdoses over the past few years, with 110,757 deaths in 2022 alone, according to a DEA tally.
“These tools allow criminals to manufacture pills that look like legitimate prescription drugs, such as oxycodone, Xanax, and Adderall, but are not,” the DEA said. “Those pills actually contain fentanyl and other deadly drugs. Criminals then sell those pills on social media and in our communities, and in many cases the pills are It’s sold to people who don’t know it’s not real or contains powerful drugs.”
The DEA states that, pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act, e-commerce retailers responsible for selling these tablet presses must maintain records of everyone who buys or sells tablet presses and report this information to the DEA. implied.
“The DEA has found that pill presses and stamps that can be used to manufacture fentanyl tablets are being sold on various e-commerce platforms. E-commerce entities that sell pill press machines typically comply with the Controlled Substances Act, 21 “Because we are a ‘regulated person’ under USC § 802(38), we are subject to the recordkeeping, identification, and reporting requirements of 21 USC § 830,” the DEA said. Said. “As a regulated entity, e-commerce platforms must comply with the CSA’s recordkeeping and reporting requirements for the distribution, import, and export of tablet press machines. This means you must notify the DEA of any sale, import, export, or transfer.”
The DEA said the majority of these fake drugs are manufactured by two specific Mexican cartels. The U.S. government has increased pressure on Mexico in recent years to curb the flow of fentanyl (including fentanyl disguised in these fake drugs) across the U.S.-Mexico border. Even after cartel authorities posted signs across Sinaloa banning the manufacture and sale of fentanyl, overdoses and seizures of fentanyl have not decreased at all.
“The drug cartels primarily responsible for manufacturing and smuggling fentanyl into the United States are the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel. These cartels, their members and associates, and other drug traffickers use pill presses to “The fentanyl powder is then formed into tablets, and during pressing, stamps are used to imprint marks and logos on the tablets,” the DEA said.
According to the DEA, more than 79 million counterfeit pills containing fentanyl were seized in 2023, a 33% increase compared to pill seizures in 2022. DEA laboratory testing showed that 70% of the seized tablets were compressed tablets and contained fentanyl. Fentanyl ingestion also accounted for 70% of drug overdoses in 2022.
“Drug traffickers are killing Americans by selling fentanyl hidden in counterfeit pills disguised as real prescription drugs. It is possible because it is available for purchase,” said DEA Administrator Ann Milgram. “E-commerce platforms cannot turn a blind eye to the fentanyl crisis or the sale of pill presses on their platforms. They must do their part to protect the public and if they fail to do so, the DEA will hold them accountable.”
The DEA said it launched an industry liaison project in 2019 and contacted more than 20 of the largest online retailers about selling pill presses on their websites. Several companies, including Amazon and Etsy, have banned the sale of pill presses on their platforms entirely, they said. However, there are still dozens of pill presses for sale on Amazon, as evidenced by the hyperlink at the beginning of this article. Also, with about 5 seconds of effort on Google, he found several pill presses for sale on Etsy.
