(Author’s note. For complementary data, please Google and read a previous StarGazer article entitled “Homelessness Crisis Triggers Fentanyl Epidemic” dated 4 October 2025)

Right now, there is a deadly Fentanyl epidemic sweeping across major cities in the USA. The powerful Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, which was smuggling it into the US, was unstoppable. They had armories of weapons and attack drones that could rival the war in Ukraine. They were smuggling millions worth of drugs in open sight, including fentanyl tablets, which yielded huge profits. They employed crack teams of high-tech mercenaries.

Fentanyl is cheap to make and not bulky. But it is the deadliest drug ever.

The cartel knew they were unstoppable and did not need the cover of night. The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) could not stop them. So, the US military was called in. Mimicking the war in Ukraine, the Armed Forces multi-task force, hiding in the shadows, let the convoy enter a “kill zone.” In minutes, they were obliterated, killing everyone, including the high-tech mercenaries. Most drug enforcers said it was impossible for the cartel to rise again, but some argued that you never know. In a few years, they may be back — there was too much money to lose.

Fentanyl is deadly because one can be hooked forever after just the first small dose, unlike heroin or opium which takes time for addiction to set in.

Fentanyl is so dangerous that those employed in the cartels’ fentanyl factories are not allowed to take it. Depending on supply and demand, which erratically jumps from shortage to oversupply, a fentanyl pill goes anywhere from $1 to $15 to $30 on the streets as of this writing (9 October 2025). One could overdose by taking two to three pills at once, it being 40 times more powerful than heroin. At this writing, a ballpark figure of about 30,000 are killed by fentanyl in one year.

Fentanyl thus destroys the very fabric of society. You may Google videos on the internet showing how fentanyl addicts look like paralyzed zombies, staying frozen in position for hours.

There is a massive shift of users from heroin to fentanyl because: 1) it gives a faster high, and 2) it is by far cheaper. It is the choice of the homeless as it is a temporary relief for deep depression. Many elderly people on the streets become fentanyl addicts. It is a form of “semi-suicide” for them.

There are violent wars among cartels over the production, distribution, and marketing of fentanyl into the US. On 17 October 2019, a son of known drug kingpin El Chapo had to rescue his brother who had been arrested by police. He employed up to 800 “sicarios” (hired professional killers) who literally invaded the capital city of Culiacan in Sinaloa. The incident instantly went viral on the internet.

With the Sinaloa cartel obliterated by the US Armed Forces, supplies of fentanyl may drastically dive down for now, but it is such a luxurious business that it may easily rise up again, perhaps in the not-so-far future. The ability of fentanyl to rapidly destroy society is something being monitored by American drug enforcers.