The highly addictive opioid is moving at ‘a significant pace’

Sunday showed a typical dose of fentanyl, about 2 milligrams, which he estimated sells on the street for around $10.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said that one of the greatest challenges he’s seen is how easily the drug can be distributed, including through the mail.
Multiple drug busts in the Philadelphia metro area resulted in 26.7 million doses of fentanyl being seized this year. Across the state, more than 50 million doses were seized. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)

“It’s coming in at a significant pace. It’s coming in at a pace where folks who are normally not even drug dealers, but it’s so easy to acquire and can easily set up shop,” Bethel said. “You don’t have to be a big drug organization and wait for ‘Mr. Supplier.’ It’s so easy to get this product.”

Nearly 27 million doses have been seized in the Philly area so far this year, according to statistics shared by officials.

Multiple drug operations in Philadelphia were raided this year, including one in May on the 2800 block of North Franklin Street resulting in 41 pounds of fentanyl being taken off the streets. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)

A single drug seizure in the 2800 block of North Franklin Street in May resulted in 41 pounds of fentanyl being taken off the streets, Sunday said.

“More than $6 million worth of fentanyl, that’s over 400,000 doses,” he said. “And from that seizure, we were able to determine that 200,000 of those doses were headed across the state to Pittsburgh … People come here to buy drugs from other places, people go to other places to buy drugs, so we can never view it through the lens of one place. We have to attack it holistically, together.”