SALT LAKE CITY — Recent statistics reveal a troubling trend in Utah, with drug overdose deaths rising in 2023. In that year, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services says 606 Utahns lost their lives to drug overdoses, with nearly half of those fatalities attributed to fentanyl. Methamphetamine accounted for much of the rest.
A closer look at local drug enforcement efforts underscores the severity of the issue.
In just two noteworthy drug seizures, authorities confiscated over 28,000 fentanyl pills. On March 19, law enforcement agents seized approximately 13,000 fentanyl pills during a sting operation in West Valley City. Earlier in the year, on January 30, the Utah County Sheriff’s drug interdiction team intercepted more than 15,000 fentanyl pills at a traffic stop near mile marker 210 on I-15 between Nephi and Scipio.
The suspects in those cases claimed they were transporting the pills from Las Vegas to Utah, and one of them was also in possession of methamphetamine. With these seizures, experts can only speculate on the much larger supply of illicit drugs making their way through and into the state.
The dominance of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine marks a significant shift in the landscape of illegal drug trafficking and usage across the United States, and Utah has some of the nation's highest rates of Fentanyl abuse.
Sam Quinones, a well-respected journalist and author of the acclaimed book "Dreamland," provides critical insight into the evolving drug trade. Quinones notes that traffickers have largely moved away from plant-based drugs, focusing instead on highly potent synthetic alternatives. "Synthetic drugs, particularly fentanyl and methamphetamine, are produced using chemicals rather than plants, enabling traffickers to manufacture them in vast quantities," he explains.
Quinones warns that fentanyl is now the deadliest illicit drug ever encountered, with methamphetamine also becoming far more potent as cartels have industrialized production.
Quinones dismisses the idea that undocumented immigrants are the primary carriers. Instead, he says these drugs predominantly enter the country via trucks and other vehicles
In Mexico, he says corruption, lack of will, and a poorly functioning criminal justice system make production and shipment of the drugs possible.
On the U.S. side of the border, demand makes the trade profitable. The U.S. is also the source of most of the weapons used by cartels to intimidate Mexicans and dominate whole regions of the country, including major ports.
He says the reciprocal nature of the trade, with both sides buying and selling, exacerbates the crisis.
Quinones will be visiting Utah this week, where he is set to appear alongside Governor Spencer Cox at a luncheon during the 2025 Solutions Conference.
