Law enforcement officials and parents are concerned that children will unknowingly come into contact with deadly fentanyl disguised as candy this Halloween season.
Derek Maltz, a former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special operations director, warned parents to educate themselves on the fentanyl crisis sweeping the nation.
The deadly drug is fairly inexpensive to create, easy to transport and highly addictive — making it a favored drug for the cartels operating on both sides of the southern border.
Maltz warned that the deadly drug is crossing the border in record numbers:
“We just had a million pills seized by the Phoenix PD. We had a million pills seized in September by New Mexico law enforcement.”
Particularly disturbing is that fentanyl, sometimes called the rainbow drug, is often disguised as candy. Officials in Connecticut recently seized 15,000 pills disguised as Skittles.
The DEA is warning parents that the rainbow-colored pills are likely being marketed to children — sometimes packaged in Skittles or Nerds candy boxes.
“We’re seeing an unprecedented amount of kids dying as young as 13 years old,” Maltz said on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday.
Maltz added: “And we know now … that 40% of the pills contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl.”
During the interview, Maltz told host Ainsley Earhardt that cartels are preying on children — aggressively reaching out to potential buyers on youth-focused social media sites.
Maltz directed parents and caregivers to educate themselves on the subject by accessing free informative materials from the DEA or other nonprofit groups — particularly as Halloween is only weeks away.
Parents “have to be proactive,” Maltz warned.” It’s deadly fentanyl, and it’s flooding our streets like we’ve never seen.”
Maltz advised parents to check their children’s Halloween candy — to open items with suspicious packaging and notify police if drugs are found.
Maltz cautioned: “Stay away from it because it’s poison. It really is dangerous.”
Reports show that opioid deaths in America have increased 1,000 percent since 2015 — most deaths attributed to fentanyl.
“This is not a drug issue, it’s a mass poisoning,” Maltz said soberly. “We’re losing a future generation — 300 a day.”
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