The United States Drug Enforcement Administration is cracking down on the sale of pill press machines used to make fentanyl pills, warning that the country is “in the midst of an unprecedented drug poisoning epidemic.”
The DEA announced on Feb. 26 that it has issued a warning to online retailers selling pill press machines, which drug traffickers use to shape fentanyl powder into pill form and imprint logos and markings onto the pills.
“With these tools, criminal actors are able to produce pills that look like legitimate prescription medication,” such as oxycodone and Xanax, the DEA said.
The final product is sold online to unassuming consumers who do not realize the pills are fake or contain deadly drugs.
In 2023, the DEA seized more than 78 million fentanyl-laced fake pills and nearly 12 thousand pounds of fentanyl powder. Those seizures are equivalent to more than 389 million lethal doses of fentanyl, according to the DEA.
In 2022, more than 110,000 Americans were killed by drug poisoning. About 70 percent of the drug poisonings involved fentanyl. The DEA says Mexican drug cartels are primarily responsible for manufacturing fentanyl and smuggling the drugs into the United States.
Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), e-commerce companies offering pill press machines to consumers must collect information on the buyer and seller and report all sales, imports, exports, or transfers to the DEA.
Anne Milgram, DEA administrator, said online companies “cannot turn a blind eye to the fentanyl crisis and to the sale of pill presses on their platforms” and must do their part to protect the public.
Ms. Milgram warned that the DEA will hold all companies accountable if they do not comply with federal regulatory requirements.
Amazon and Etsy have already banned the sale of pill presses on their websites, while earlier this year, California-based eBay agreed to pay $59 million to resolve allegations it violated the CSA by failing to identify and report pill press purchases on its website, according to the Department of Justice. The settlement also required eBay to enhance its compliance program on restricted items such as pill presses and counterfeit molds.
Biden, Trump Both Visit Border
The DEA warning to online retailers comes as President Joe Biden recently announced a trip to the southern border on Feb. 29 as he pushes Congress to pass a bipartisan border agreement.
“This week, I will be traveling to Brownsville, Texas to meet with the U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement, and local leaders,” President Biden announced in a post on X.
The trip will be his second visit to the southern border as the president pushes to pass border legislation.
“House Republicans should stop playing politics and pass the bipartisan border agreement we reached in the Senate, the toughest and fairest reforms in decades,” President Biden wrote.
Meanwhile, 45th President Donald Trump, the leading GOP presidential candidate, also announced he would be visiting the southern border on the same day.
“Crooked Joe Biden has had three years to visit the border and fix the crisis he created. Now Biden’s handlers are sending him there on the same day as President Trump’s publicly reported trip, not because they actually want to solve the problem, but because they know Biden is losing terribly,” the Trump campaign wrote in a statement issued on X.
President Trump plans to travel to the southern border city of Eagle Pass, Texas.
