The powder can be packaged and sold, or further processed into pills.

At this point, the fentanyl powder is so powerful that illicit producers often mix it with other substances, known as cutting agents, in order to bulk up the product and decrease its potency.

Cutting agent

Active fentanyl

Pills pressed

Sugars to bulk up the product

Common painkillers like acetaminophen

mold

Chemicals to bind and color the pills

The vast majority of fentanyl powder and pills entering the U.S. is smuggled across the border in vehicles driven by American citizens through legal ports of entry, according to U.S. authorities.

Fentanyl powder dries under the sun for a few hours.

The coarse powder is refined in a blender. This is a dangerous step: Cooks can overdose if they inhale the powder.

The powder can be packaged and sold or further processed into pills.

Powdered fentanyl

Powder is placed into 1 kg bags. Some bags are sent to post-production labs.

At those labs, pill die molds are used to press some of the powder into counterfeit pills that mimic oxycodone, a prescription painkiller.

At this point, the fentanyl powder is so powerful that illicit producers often mix it with other substances, known as cutting agents, in order to bulk up the product and decrease its potency.

Cutting agent

Active fentanyl

Pills pressed

The powder to be pressed into pills includes tiny amounts of fentanyl mixed with:

Sugars to bulk up the product

Common painkillers like acetaminophen

mold

Chemicals to bind and color the pills

Like chocolate chips in a batch of cookies, the amount of active fentanyl in an illicit pill is never evenly distributed. The DEA has found tablets with widely varying amounts of active fentanyl – ranging from 0.01 mg to 8.4 mg per pill.

The most common sugar that Mexican producers add to fentanyl is mannitol, a low-calorie sweetener.

The vast majority of fentanyl powder and pills entering the U.S. is smuggled across the border in vehicles driven by American citizens through legal ports of entry, according to U.S. authorities.

The powder is often cut again after crossing the border, especially with the powerful sedative xylazine, which can make fentanyl even more deadly. Powder is often shipped to the U.S. in pressed-brick form.

Some of the powder is transported to pill-press mills across the U.S. A single kilo of pure fentanyl can make around 500,000 pills.

Fentanyl powder dries under the sun for a few hours.

The coarse powder is refined in a blender. This is a dangerous step: Cooks can overdose if they inhale the powder.

Powdered fentanyl

Pill-form fentanyl

Powder is placed into 1 kg bags. Some bags are sent to post-production labs.

At those labs, pill die molds are used to press some of the powder into counterfeit pills that mimic oxycodone, a prescription painkiller.

At this point, the fentanyl powder is so powerful that illicit producers often mix it with other substances, known as cutting agents, in order to bulk up the product and decrease its potency.

Cutting agent

Active fentanyl

The powder to be pressed into pills includes tiny amounts of fentanyl mixed with:

Pills pressed

Like chocolate chips in a batch of cookies, the amount of active fentanyl in an illicit pill is never evenly distributed. The DEA has found tablets with widely varying amounts of active fentanyl – ranging from 0.01 mg to 8.4 mg per pill.

Sugars to bulk up the product

mold

Common painkillers like acetaminophen

Chemicals to bind and color the pills

The most common sugar that Mexican producers add to fentanyl is mannitol, a low-calorie sweetener.

The powder is often cut again after crossing the border, especially with the powerful sedative xylazine, which can make fentanyl even more deadly.

The vast majority of fentanyl powder and pills entering the U.S. is smuggled across the border in vehicles driven by American citizens through legal ports of entry, according to U.S. authorities.

Some of the powder is transported to pill-press mills across the U.S. A single kilo of pure fentanyl can make around 500,000 pills.

Powder is often shipped to the U.S. in pressed-brick form.

Fentanyl powder dries under the sun for a few hours.

The coarse powder is refined in a blender. This is a dangerous step: Cooks can overdose if they inhale the powder.

Powdered fentanyl

Pill-form fentanyl

Powder is placed into 1 kg bags. Some bags are sent to post-production labs.

At those labs, pill die molds are used to press some of the powder into counterfeit pills that mimic oxycodone, a prescription painkiller.

At this point, the fentanyl powder is so powerful that illicit producers often mix it with other substances, known as cutting agents, in order to bulk up the product and decrease its potency.

Cutting agent

Active fentanyl

The powder to be pressed into pills includes tiny amounts of fentanyl mixed with:

Pills pressed

Sugars to bulk up the product

Like chocolate chips in a batch of cookies, the amount of active fentanyl in an illicit pill is never evenly distributed. The DEA has found tablets with widely varying amounts of active fentanyl – ranging from 0.01 mg to 8.4 mg per pill.

mold

Common painkillers like acetaminophen

Chemicals to bind and color the pills

The most common sugar that Mexican producers add to fentanyl is mannitol, a low-calorie sweetener.

The powder is often cut again after crossing the border, especially with the powerful sedative xylazine, which can make fentanyl even more deadly.

The vast majority of fentanyl powder and pills entering the U.S. is smuggled across the border in vehicles driven by American citizens through legal ports of entry, according to U.S. authorities.

Some of the powder is transported to pill-press mills across the U.S. A single kilo of pure fentanyl can make around 500,000 pills.

Powder is often shipped to the U.S. in pressed-brick form.

Powdered fentanyl

Pill-form fentanyl

At this point, the fentanyl powder is so powerful that illicit producers often mix it with other substances, known as cutting agents, in order to bulk up the product and decrease its potency.

Cutting agent

Active fentanyl

The powder to be pressed into pills includes tiny amounts of fentanyl mixed with:

Pills pressed

Sugars to bulk up the product

Common painkillers like acetaminophen

mold

Chemicals to bind and color the pills

The vast majority of fentanyl powder and pills entering the U.S. is smuggled across the border in vehicles driven by American citizens through legal ports of entry, according to U.S. authorities.