AUSTIN, Texas – Texas has seized enough fentanyl to potentially kill every person in the United States and Mexico combined, according to a post by Governor Greg Abbott on X. Abbott stated that more than half a billion doses of the drug have been confiscated since the start of Operation Lone Star (OLS) in 2021.
OLS is a joint initiative between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department, targeting drug trafficking, human smuggling, and illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In 2023 alone, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also seized more than 80 million fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, equivalent to more than 381 million deadly doses of the drug.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 105,800 Americans have died from fentanyl over the past year.