WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the American public of a sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine. Xylazine, also known as “Tranq,” is a powerful sedative that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved for veterinary use.
The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine, and according to DEA officials xylazine is making fentanyl even deadlier.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen explains if xylazine is in Montana.
“We’re seeing it, yeah for sure. One of the challenges with fentanyl especially in the form that we get it, which is primarily into a pressed tablet or pill, it’s taking more resources at our crime lab to test it. Obviously, we know fentanyl is in there in most cases, but with methamphetamine it has gotten so pure, that’s pretty easy to test. You put it in a spectrometer, it pegs for meth, and we can get that report to the prosecutor fairly quickly. The turnaround is fast, but with these fentanyl tablets what we’re finding is the cartels are just mixing so much other garbage in with the fentanyl tablets, and that’s where we’re seeing new stuff.” -Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen
