The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reported unprecedented drug seizures across four Mountain States, primarily attributed to operations by two major cartels using routes through the southern border.
In 2025, the DEA confiscated a staggering 8,729,000 fentanyl pills along with nearly 3,100 pounds of methamphetamine throughout the Mountain region, which encompasses Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming, according to a recent news release from the agency.
“These figures are shocking. Colorado experienced a 76% rise in pill seizures compared to the previous year, and Utah saw a doubling in pill confiscations. This situation should serve as more than just a wake-up call; it should be an urgent alert to every resident across our four-state region,” emphasized David Olesky, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division.
The agency highlighted that the seizure in Colorado represents the largest one-time seizure of counterfeit pills in the state’s history and ranks as the sixth-largest single seizure of suspected fentanyl pills in the history of the United States.
On a national level, the DEA managed to seize approximately 47 million pills throughout the country.
In Colorado, a significant methamphetamine seizure occurred in April, amounting to 733 pounds, while November marked the largest single fentanyl pill seizure, with authorities confiscating 1.7 million pills.
Cesar Avila, DEA assistant special agent in charge who oversees Wyoming and Montana, told Cowboy State Daily that the bulk of the drugs were being distributed to cartel networks — the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) — in cities like Denver and Salt Lake City, which then distribute them in Wyoming.
“When you’re dealing with the user population, they are more in it for effects and not for the profit margins,” Avila told the newspaper. “They’re not necessarily doing it for the business side of things; they’re doing it more because they need that particular addiction.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration said much of the fentanyl and meth seized from four Mountain states were funneled into the United States by drug cartels. (Getty Images)
Avila speculated that both cartels have a presence in most, if not all Wyoming communities.
South of the border, cartels primarily use tractor trailers to haul the drugs to the larger hubs, he said. The drugs are either transported by individual drivers or through the mail into Wyoming, he added.
“DEA remains committed to targeting the drug cartels who operate within our four states, and we will continue to dismantle the networks responsible for poisoning and killing people in our communities,” Olesky said.
So far in 2026, the DEA has seized more than 239,000 fentanyl pills and more than 10,000 methamphetamine pills, according to DEA figures.
The Trump administration has declared war on fentanyl, first by targeting suspected drug smuggling boats at sea with military airstrikes and pressuring Mexico and China, the primary source of chemicals used to produce the illicit drug, through tariffs.
