Officials Urge Parents To Check Halloween Bags Amid Increase of Smuggled Drugs in Candy Wrappers

Parents are being reminded to stay vigilant this Halloween as massive amounts of drugs are being packaged in candy wrappers.

This comes after Los Angeles officials announced a major drug bust in Pasadena of 328,000 fentanyl pills as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation.

Officials with the Pasadena Police Department say the candy-colored fentanyl, seized on Sept. 24, appeared to be a new method used by drug cartels to attract children and young people, according to ABC7 Eyewitness News.

The news outlet reports that the Pasadena Police Department alone has seized roughly 708,500 fentanyl pills, according to an issued press release.

In Connecticut, two Maryland men were charged with trafficking 15,000 pills of fentanyl disguised as candy with the intent to sell to an undercover DEA agent.

The drugs were stored in Skittles and Nerds packaging, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Experts with the Drug Enforcement Administration say that just one pill can be fatal and are urging parents to talk with their children to be extra observant about what to look out for this Halloween and beyond.

This also includes seeking educational materials from the DEA and other nonprofits that specialize in this area as Halloween approaches.

“Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram in a press release.

The issue is reportedly causing major issues for morgues in terms of space to put bodies nationwide.

“The most common non-natural death is opioids, it’s more than our number of homicides, more than our number of traffic accidents,’ said Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar during a interview with Fox News.

In 2021, there were reportedly more than 63,000 overdose deaths related to fentanyl.