Fentanyl overdose deaths on the rise, dealers smuggle drugs through U.S. mail

USPS sees increase in number of packages containing fentanyl

ROANOKE – As the opioid epidemic is at an all-time high, a new report reveals that overseas drug dealers are using the U.S. Postal Service to smuggle drugs into the hands of U.S. buyers.
  
Beating the system by using the system, international drug dealers, primarily from China are using the same U.S. government that's working to stop the spread of fentanyl, to deliver it straight to Americans doorsteps.

According to The Washington Post, a U.S. Senate committee investigation shows just how easily overseas manufacturers are shipping hundreds of thousands of packages of fentanyl and other opioids each year.

Using loopholes of e-commerce, many of those shipments of fentanyl are being ordered online. It only takes a quick Google search to find a distributor.

That means, people are getting their hands on deadly drugs like fentanyl with an easy payment and only a click of a button.

Many of the sellers even blatantly advertise that the drugs are illegal, along with the deadly side effects.

In a statement, the USPS said it’s seen a 375 percent increase in the number of these packages they've seized from international shipments. It also reported an 880 percent increase in domestic parcel seizures related to opioids.  In a statement, the USPS said it’ fully supports the STOP Act’s goal of increasing advance electronic data.

“The Postal Service is prioritizing obtaining AED from the largest volume foreign posts, which collectively account for over 90 percent of inbound volumes, and which, unlike some countries, have the capability to provide the information,” USPS said.

In the past three years, USPS said it has gone from receiving almost no AED on inbound shipments to current levels at approximately 40 percent.

“The Postal Service will continue to work tirelessly to address this serious societal issue,” it said.

Although thousands of illegal packages have been found, many people wonder how many more are out there.

Fatal fentanyl overdoses are on the rise nationally and in Virginia.

10 News got the latest numbers from the Virginia Department of Health.

Between 2015 and 2016, fatal fentanyl overdoses increased 177 percent in Virginia going from 225 deaths a year to 624.

In the first 8 months of 2017 alone 564 people died from fentanyl overdoses.

In the region, Craig County had the highest rate of fentanyl overdose deaths followed by Roanoke County. Also seeing high numbers, Roanoke City, Lynchburg and the counties of Montgomery, Franklin, Henry, Wythe and Campbell.

Rates that legislators say won't decrease until more of these drugs are off the streets.


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