DEA warns Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels are direct threats to families and children in the U.S.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) warns that the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) drug cartels are the most serious threats to children, families, and communities in the United States.

"Over the past year, curbing the fentanyl crisis has been the DEA's top priority. The most immediate threat to our communities, our children, and our families is the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG, which are mass producing drugs and distributing fentanyl that poisons and kills Americans," the agency's administrator, Anne Milgram, said in a statement.

The DEA reported that during the period from May 23 to September 8 it seized more than 10.2 million pills and almost half a ton of fentanyl, equivalent to 36 million doses.

U.S. Attorney General, Merrick B. Garland, added that of the 390 cases currently under investigation by the DEA, 51 are linked to overdose poisonings and 35 are related to the aforementioned Mexican criminal groups. "Fentanyl is devastating families and communities across the country, and we know that criminal and violent drug cartels are responsible for this crisis," he explained.

In August, the DEA also warned that Mexican cartels expanded their product inventory to sell the synthetic opioid in a variety of brightly colored shapes and sizes, known as "rainbow fentanyl." Its marketing extends to 21 of the 50 U.S. states.

"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 youth," the DEA noted.

In 2021, at least 107,622 Americans died from drug overdoses. Of that figure, 66% can be attributed to the use of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, a drug 50 times more potent than heroin, according to data referenced by Infobae.