--- title: Officials Seized 115 Million Illicit Fentanyl Pills in 2023 description: Experts call the figure "alarming" and say it shows the need for increased public health efforts to prevent the distribution of these pills. canonical: https://time.com/6977717/fentanyl-pills-seized-study/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-05-14T00:00:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:36:53.784Z article:section: Health og:title: Officials Seized 115 Million Illicit Fentanyl Pills in 2023 og:description: Many experts link the overdose crisis to the spread of illicit fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. og:url: https://time.com/6977717/fentanyl-pills-seized-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b8c03e2863feff8/698a56bc9d83e82471b9a17a/Fentanyl.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman Announces Large Heroin Bust og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Officials Seized 115 Million Illicit Fentanyl Pills in 2023 twitter:description: Many experts link the overdose crisis to the spread of illicit fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b8c03e2863feff8/698a56bc9d83e82471b9a17a/Fentanyl.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S. Authorities Seized Over 115 Million Illicit Pills Containing Fentanyl in 2023 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter May 14, 2024 12:00 AM UTC  Bags of heroin, some laced with fentanyl, are displayed before a press conference regarding a major drug bust, at the office of the New York Attorney General in New York City, NY on September 23, 2016. Bags of heroin, some laced with fentanyl, are displayed before a press conference regarding a major drug bust, at the office of the New York Attorney General in New York City, NY on September 23, 2016. Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter May 14, 2024 12:00 AM UTC U.S. law enforcement officials seized more than 115 million pills containing illicit fentanyl in 2023—a dramatic increase that experts say is “alarming” and shows the need for increased public health efforts to prevent the distribution of these pills and possible overdoses. A new study published Monday in the [_International Journal of Drug Policy_](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395924001026?via%3Dihub) found that the number of individual pills containing fentanyl that was seized by law enforcement was 2,300 times greater in 2023 than in 2017\. In total, 115,562,603 pills containing fentanyl were seized in 2023, whereas 49,657 were seized in 2017\. The study also found that the proportion of pills that were seized to the total number of fentanyl seized more than quadrupled—in 2023, pills represented nearly half of illicit fentanyl seizures, whereas they represented just 10% in 2017. “Availability of illicit fentanyl is continuing to skyrocket in the U.S., and the influx of fentanyl-containing pills is particularly alarming,” Joseph J. Palamar, the study’s lead author and an associate professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, said in a press release from the [National Institutes of Health](https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/over-115-million-pills-containing-illicit-fentanyl-seized-law-enforcement-2023) (NIH). “Public health efforts are needed to help prevent these pills from falling into the hands of young people, and to help prevent overdose among people taking pills that unsuspectingly contain fentanyl.” Of the nearly 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021, more than 75% involved an opioid, according to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/epidemic.html). Many experts [link the overdose crisis to the spread of illicit fentanyl](https://www.nevadacountyca.gov/3115/Fentanyl), which is a synthetic opioid that is about 50 times more potent than heroin. As little as two milligrams of the drug could be lethal, according to the [U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration](https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl). The new study found that most law enforcement seizures of fentanyl took place in the western U.S., even though historically, law enforcement seizures have been less common in that part of the country. Researchers said in their study that this highlights the importance of monitoring fentanyl supplies in different regions to improve the public health response. The study was funded by the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse. Researchers collected data for the study through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, a grant program administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy that aims to reduce drug trafficking and misuse. Law enforcement seizures can help indicate the availability of illicit drugs, even if they may not reflect the prevalence of drug use, according to the NIH press release. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6977717/fentanyl-pills-seized-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6977717/fentanyl-pills-seized-study/"},"headline":"U.S. Authorities Seized Over 115 Million Illicit Pills Containing Fentanyl in 2023","datePublished":"2024-05-14T00:00:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:36:53.784Z","description":"Experts call the figure \"alarming\" and say it shows the need for increased public health efforts to prevent the distribution of these pills.","url":"https://time.com/6977717/fentanyl-pills-seized-study/","keywords":["Drugs","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b8c03e2863feff8/698a56bc9d83e82471b9a17a/Fentanyl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chantelle Lee","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b8c03e2863feff8/698a56bc9d83e82471b9a17a/Fentanyl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"New York Attorney General Eric T. 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