ST. LOUIS — Drug traffickers are finding new ways to target new customers by adding color to rainbow fentanyl. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sent out a warning on Wednesday.
Colin Dickey, St. Louis regional assistant special agent in charge, said he has worked with the DEA for 18 years.
"I don't know how I could live with myself if I lost my son to a drug overdose, especially with what I do for a living," Dickey said. "It's very scary."
Dickey takes on a new task with tracking "rainbow fentanyl".
"The criminal organizations that we investigate, including the new generation Jalisco cartel and the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico are mass producing and adding color to these substances for distribution in the United States to target children in the United States and young adults," Dickey said.
The national DEA issued a warning of an emerging trend of brightly colorful fentanyl and fentanyl pills in 18 states.
Dickey said they had about five seizures involving multiple colorful kilograms in St. Louis since August.
"We've seen instances in the St. Louis Metro region area, of purple and pink fentanyl powder, to my knowledge, no pills at this current time," Dickey said.
Jenny Armbruster said she educates young people about substance abuse through the local nonprofit called PreventEd.
"When we think about substance use and we think about how young people might be attracted to certain substances this is not really anything new," Armbruster said.
"Anything to make a dollar, that is there bottom line," Dickey said. "They don't care about the safety of the American public, all they care about is making money for their criminal enterprise."
PreventED offers talking kits for parents to discuss the dangers of drugs with their children.
"We always encourage these conversations are early and often and that we use these teachable moments to ask kids what's going on, what do they know, what do they have questions about," Armbruster said.
With rainbow fentanyl trending upward, better to have those talks sooner rather than later .
"We have seen it in the area, and we anticipate that it's going to increase as well," Dickey said.
Dickey said drug overdoses and poisonings are the leading cause of death in Americans ages 18-45.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported more than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, with the majority tracing back to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley sent a letter to United States Drug Enforcement Administrator Anne Milgram on Wednesday addressing the rainbow fentanyl trend.
He also addressed drug overdoses in Missouri and asked about the DEA's plans to combat drug trafficking in America.