A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration operation targeting fentanyl netted nearly a million “fatal” doses of the drug across four mountain states in just over a month.

Between Jan. 10 and Feb. 12 across Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana, the agency seized nearly 17 kilograms of fentanyl powder and 193,000 fentanyl pills, amounting to 920,000 “fatal” doses, the DEA said in a news release. The DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division also made 62 arrests, seized 57 guns and $5.5 million.

Across the entire country in the same timespan, Operation Fentanyl Free America has netted 4.7 million fentanyl pills and almost 2,400 pounds of fentanyl powder, amounting to more than 57 million fatal doses, the release said.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid typically used medicinally to treat pain, but has surged in recent years in the illicit drug market as illegal drug manufacturers mix it with other drugs to increase potency, according to the DEA. It is similar to morphine but is much more potent; the DEA estimates that as little as 2 milligrams can be lethal.

The Colorado Department of Health and Environment reports that, while final numbers are not yet available, as of October 2025 1,005 deaths in Colorado resulted from ingesting synthetic opioids, with fentanyl being the primary drug. In 2024, the number was 852.

David Olesky, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division, said in the release that fentanyl is killing people every day across Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.

“Fentanyl continues to be the number one drug threat the United States has ever faced,” Olesky said. “This latest surge took deadly poison out of our communities — to the tune of more than 900,000 deadly doses. We’re not through – this is only the continuation of what the men and women of DEA are doing every single day.”

The seizures come as fatal fentanyl overdoses increased in Denver last year by about 35%, according to data from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment. Preliminary data reported on by The Denver Gazette showed an initial increase of 25%, before additional confirmed overdose deaths pushed the number up by about 10%

The total number of fentanyl overdoses in Denver in 2025 was 376, the second-highest number in the past half-decade. More than 385 people died from fentanyl in 2023, according to the data.

Fentanyl overdoses also represent the vast majority of opioid overdose deaths and are the leading drug in overall overdose deaths in both Denver and the country.

So far in 2026, nine people are suspected of dying from a fentanyl overdose in Denver, according to the data.

The DEA placed the blame for the influx of illicit fentanyl on “terrorist” drug cartels who have sought to “weaponize” fentanyl, the release said. 
Last year, 6.7 million fentanyl pills were seized across Colorado, representing about 14% of the fentanyl pills seized across the country, an increase of 76% compared to 2024.