Fentanyl Bust Reveals How Mexican Drug Cartels Are Infiltrating Middle America

The war against Mexican drug cartels pushing lethal opioids in have been dealt a blow in a “good bust” by a south Ohio drugs task force.

A 20-pound cache of fentanyl, capable of killing millions of people, was seized, according to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. Four men, three from Mexico, were arrested on drugs charges and held in the Montgomery County jail. DeWine said the arrests were part of an ongoing investigation into a Mexican drug cartel.

The majority of the drugs, worth $3.6 million on the street, were found hidden in a car dashboard. One hundred pounds of marijuana and $150,000 was also seized. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin.

According to the Dayton Daily News, DeWine said: “What you’re looking at here is enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman, and child in the Miami Valley. In fact, even beyond the Miami Valley. I think this is enough to kill 3 [million] or 4 million in the state of Ohio.”

He added: “They [the Miami Valley Bulk Smuggling Task Force] are going right at the members of the cartel.

Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer called it a “good bust” and warned the cartel, “this isn’t a good place to do business.”

The county's location has made it an ideal distribution hub for Mexican drug cartels. Interstates 70 and 75, two major arteries that crisscross the nation, intersect in its northeast. Authorities say cartels ship drugs directly to Dayton in Ohio, less than a 10-minute drive from the intersection. Then, local dealers circulate opioids throughout the country.

Ohio is proof that America's drug crisis is spreading into suburban homes. The notorious Sinaloa cartel – once run by one of the most wanted men in the world, El Chapo - is active across the state. Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, was captured in 2016 after escaping from prison in Mexico twice and was extradited to the United States last year.

In March, 12 individuals connected to the cartel were indicted in the small city of Middletown located between Cincinnati and Dayton. They allegedly distributed fentanyl and heroin from Mexico and sent laundered cash back to the cartel in Mexico.

As a result, Ohio has been hit hard by the growing opioid crisis and is among the top five states with the highest rates of opioid-related overdose deaths. In 2016, 86 percent of overdose deaths in the state involved an opioid – a class of drug covering everything from heroin to legal painkillers.

The largely white and midwestern state suffered 3,616 overdoses in 2015, compared to just 500 a decade earlier, a rate of 32.9 deaths per 100,000 persons and more than double the national rate.

Nationally, 33,000 Americans died of an overdose in 2015, more than double the number 10 years ago. In 2016, that figure had nearly doubled again to 63,632, according to the CDC. Nearly two-thirds of these deaths involved a prescription or illicit opioid.