- September 4, 2022
- Posted by: Keith Graves
- Category: Opiates
There has been an increase in brightly colored fentanyl pills in the United States. Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that Is responsible for killing hundreds of tens of Americans. In fact, a recent DEA press release stated that 2 out of every 5 fentanyl pills entering the United States is a lethal dose. In recent weeks, brightly colored fentanyl pills have become increasingly popular in the United States. These pills look a lot like candy, and can be very dangerous. There has been a lot of misinformation going around on this new trend, so I’ll break it down for you.
1. What is Colored Fentanyl?
Colored fentanyl is a type of fentanyl that is often brightly colored. It is manufactured illicitly in Mexico, mainly by the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The DEA stated in a press release, “Some rainbow fentanyl comes in blocks that resemble sidewalk chalk. Despite claims that certain colors may be more potent than others, there is no indication through DEA’s laboratory testing that this is the case. Every color, shape, and size of fentanyl should be considered extremely dangerous,” the DEA noted.
Most of the Fentanyl recovered up to this point has been pills marked as “M30”, or Oxycodone. They had a blue/green color to them. There are now M30 pills showing up in multiple colors.
2. Where is Colored Fentanyl Being Found?
The DEA reports that colored fentanyl pills have been found in 18 states. Colored fentanyl started popping up in the San Francisco Bay Area first over a year ago. In that case, it was Hondurans living in Oakland that added coloring. This type of colored fentanyl started popping up in the East Coast shortly thereafter.
Talking to sources around the country, it appears to be heavily populated in the western states, but it is also in several east coast states. The spread of the colored fentanyl is spreading at a rapid pace.
3. What are They Doing to Make it Colorful (and Why Does it Smell Like Butter)?
A source that has ties to a Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) in Mexico said that they are mainly using cake mix coloring. There is also one fentanyl cook that is claiming to add butter to the recipe so that the pills leave a golden color on the foil and smells like buttered popcorn when it is smoked. Is the butter recipe widespread? It may just be one cook doing a signature thing. It is unknown if it will become widespread.
4. Are Cartels Targeting American Children With Colored Fentanyl?
That’s a good question and not everyone is agreeing on the validity of this question. Adding coloring to street drugs is not new. I’ve recovered colored methamphetamine, colored cocaine and just about every other common street drug. Reasonings have included marketing (“red pills are more potent than other colors” etc) and the fact that there may not be any other cutting material to add to their product.
There is also one other ominous reason and that is to entice kids to use it. In a DEA press release, the DEA said, “This trend appears to be a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and young people.”
Academia is scoffing at the DEA’s assertion that the cartels are doing this to entice children. They state that there are no studies supporting the DEA’s claim. However, there is validity to this claim and it was backed up by a noted best selling author.
Sam Quinones, who is the author of Dreamland and The Least of Us, is easily an expert in opioids. Sam’s two books are on my reading list for Drug Enforcers. I’ve talked to Sam several times and his books are spot on from my experience. In a group of drug education professionals, several academics were balking at DEA’s claims and denigrating Law Enforcement in general stating that there is no way cartels would target children. Sam made the following statement that is highly credible:
“I communicated on this earlier today with a Sinaloa drug-underworld (as opposed to official) source who is deeply knowledgeable:”
“They’re coming up with various colors but the pink ones are really selling fast since they hit the market several months ago” (in addition to, or as a production variation to, the press blues – blue 30mg oxycodone-generic knock-offs – that have dominated the market since Mexican DTOs got into making fentanyl pills in roughly 2017). “So they added other colors, but it’s really the pink ones that are crowding the market. It’s to attract youths into believing colored ones are better and begin their drug use. And it’s because they’ve had such luck by introducing the pink pill, they’re trying other colors. It’s both things.”
When this fentanyl crisis was starting, fentanyl was being found as a cutting agent in common street drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine. I always stated that they were doing that to create a new generation of opiate addicts. I stated several times that the cartels understood that an opiate addict is always a better customer than a stimulant addict.
The academics scoffed at this stating that fentanyl was being found in cocaine and other drugs because the cartels were sloppy in their processing and that it was actually cross contamination. Several years into this epidemic it is apparent that the cartels were indeed creating new customers.
Academics don’t understand the evil that exists within the cartels. They only care about money and nothing else. I think the academics are, again, wrong. The DEA has solid intel about the cartels targeting children (as they have been for decades as drug couriers, look outs and Sicarios-assassins) and this was backed up by an author with connections and a solid track record to back it up.
Conclusion
We don’t know if colored fentanyl will be here to stay. However, the cartels have been changing their fentanyl line up with frequency in the last year. They have added “boosters” like Xylazine and Bromazolam to their fentanyl and have been changing marketing tactics. This is another change in marketing strategy and it seems to be working.
