FOX 5 EXCLUSIVE: DEA issuing warning after string of overdose deaths in DC

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - The Drug Enforcement Administration is issuing a public safety alert after a string of overdose deaths in the District.

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In January, 10 people overdosed in the Navy Yard area of D.C. and nine of them died. This was the first mass casualty event involving fentanyl in 2022, and since then, the problem has only gotten worse.

The DEA Washington Division Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget spoke to FOX 5 about a serious warning they are issuing to the community.

"Anyone that's consuming any drugs, pills or otherwise run the risk of consuming a deadly amount of fentanyl that they unknowingly are taking that's laced into these drugs," Forget says.

The DEA says the D.C. region is seeing a 30 percent increase from 2020 to 2021 in the number of overdoses, impacting people of all ages and from different walks of life. 

READ MORE: Fentanyl peddlers arrested for overdose string that killed 9 in Southwest

Most recently, 10 of the 18 people who overdosed in Northeast D.C. died over a three-day period due to a bad batch of drugs laced with fentanyl. 

The DEA says a big part of the problem is kids, teens and adults are buying Xanax, Oxycodone and Adderall pills that seem real, but are not.

"We see a lot of the drug dealers distributing the counterfeit pills online on different apps such as Snapchat," Forget tells FOX 5.

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The DEA says don't take pills that aren't prescribed to you by your doctor. This is a conversation they are encouraging everybody to have with their loved ones to prevent another tragedy.