Disrupt the Supply of Illegal Drugs
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Background
Key to any strategy to reduce opioid misuse is preventing illicit opioids, including heroin and synthetic opioids, from ever reaching communities. This role is almost exclusively the role and responsiblity of law enforcement at both the federal and state level, and requires cooperation between jurisdictions and federal partners to ensure success.
Perceived Dangers of Accidental Overdoses
With the distribution of fentanyl, a powerful opioid that can be lethal in small amounts, overdoses have been reported by law enforment personnel as having occured through inhalation or absorption through the skin during routine encounters.[1] These instances, however, are more myth than reality,[2] and can lead to misplaced fear when law enforement and emergency responders come upon a suspected overdose. Any delay in responding to an overdose could cause brain damage and even death.
See page on Support Strategies to Address FentanylNational Programs
DEA 360 Strategy
Target Drug Trafficking Organizations
In the past, the DEA has targeted low-level, first time non-violent offenders who usually are selling to get high themselves.[6] This new strategy will target all drug deals, but start from the top down.[7]
"These drug trafficking organizations are predators. There's no other way to describe it. They look for the vulnerable, they exploit them by finding them while they are trying to get treatment; that's how severe, how bad these drug trafficking organizations are to find their customer and peddle their poison. We're going to put together a task force and this task force is going to put together building federal cases based on these overdoses, and there is significant sentencing around and this is a way to impact straight into the organization and take out upper level members of an organization that directly impact the flow of drugs.”[8]
-Thomas Gorman, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, DEA
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCTDEF) National Heroin/Fentanyl and Opioid Initiative
Since its inception in December of 2014, the ultimate goal of this initiative has been to develop multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional cases against criminal organizations. The Initiative leverages the national structure, resources and information sharing capabilities to identify the local street level distributors who are responsible for overdose deaths, as well as their network of suppliers at the local and regional level. In the last several years, OCDETF investigators and prosecutors attacked the opioid epidemic by prosecuting rogue physicians, pharmacists, internet sales, and pill mill operations. Their traditional diversion investigations involved overwriting of oxycodone by doctors, and misuse of fentanyl patches by users who clipped the edges to consume the gel inside. Today, OCTDEF funds 60 Heroin/Fentanyl and Opioid Initiatives across the country. [9]
Working With China to Stop Export of Controlled Substances
- A large number of synthetic opioids, specifically fentanyl, come to the US from China. [10]
- China has agreed to crack down on the exports of substances that are controlled in the US, but not in China.[11]
- The US and China will work together to exchange more law enforcement and scientific information to coordinate actions.[12]
- Cooperation between the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the China Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and recognized China’s actions toward combating global synthetic drug trafficking.[13]
- On October 1, 2015, China took an important step in international coordination by controlling a list of 116 synthetic drugs that were widely abused in the U.S.[14]
- When evaluating a substance for control, the new provision also allows China to consider harm to the public in countries other than China.[15]
- DEA continues to share information with Chinese officials to secure scheduling of additional fentanyl-class substances in China due to the wave of recent deaths in the United States from these synthetic opioids. [16]
- At a time of massive growth in postal shipments from China due to e-commerce, the investigators found that the postal system received the electronic data on just over a third of all international packages, making more than 300 million packages in 2017 much harder to screen. Data in the Senate report shows no significant improvement during 2017 despite the urgency. [17]
- The U.S. Postal Service said it has made dramatic progress in the last year in total packages with opioids seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection... implementing the use of electronic data is slowed by the need to negotiate with international partners, but the service is making progress. [18]
Tools & Resources
TR - Expand Efforts to Disrupt the Supply of Heroin & Synthetic Opioids to the Community
Scorecard Building
Potential Objective Details
Potential Measures and Data Sources
Potential Actions and Partners
Resources to Investigate
More RTI on Synthetic Opioids
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