Fentanyl Is “High Priority” of Las Vegas DEA

The local Drug Enforcement Administration office in Las Vegas is still concerned about fentanyl, but parents shouldn’t be too concerned about the synthetic opioid showing up in trick-or-treat bags this Halloween, according to the agency.

“They should not be especially concerned about that occurring,” Kevin Adams, Assistant Special Agent in Charge said. “But again, I would caution all parents to do what they normally do inspect all candy that their kids take make sure that they are commercially wrapped.”

According to Adams, cartels do not particularly package their items to get them on shop shelves. However, fentanyl is spreading throughout the community, and brightly colored fentanyl and fentanyl tablets, dubbed “rainbow fentanyl,” are a popular means of making it more enticing to youngsters.

“The whole point of the rainbow coloring is to make it more marketable to younger people in our country,” Adams said. “Just recently in Clark County, we’ve had several cases which we’ve seized it here.”

Nevada is now one of more than 20 states that have experienced rainbow-colored fentanyl. Adams and his team of agents are still concerned about the opioid crisis in Southern Nevada.

“We’ve now had this additional threat where the drug cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel, and CJNG (Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación) are targeting the youth in our communities,” he said.

Fentanyl is emerging on counterfeit drugs like as Oxycodone and Percocet that individuals buy on the street rather than through a pharmacy.