Pill press seizures in the United States
States in pink indicate that law enforcement has found a least one pill press making illicit pills. Click the red triangles for specific seizure incidents, January 2023 to the present.
Illicit Pill Presses are Still a Threat
Read our April 2021 update. Or watch our two minute video summary.
When we released Illegal Pill Presses with NABP and NADDI in March 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had characterized fentanyl pills as a growing market. And the DEA was prescient. Since then,
- Mexican cartels have industrialized, importing precursor chemicals from China and India to make their own fentanyl in-house. (The DEA reports that cartels manufactured 71 percent of the counterfeit pills regional offices submitted for analysis in 2020.)
- Pressed counterfeit pills made with fentanyl have been found in all 50 U.S. states, with associated deaths in 42 of them (as of October 2020).
- Criminals have expanded their pill offerings to include novel benzodiazepines and methamphetamine, and to mimic Adderall, aspirin and even the diabetes drug metformin.
- Legislative efforts to enhance penalties for pill press crimes have not gained traction.
- Florida's 2018 statute to criminalize selling, buying or possessing a pill press to manufacture counterfeit controlled substances has largely not been taken up by prosecutors.
Law enforcement has seen some tremendous successes shutting down counterfeiting operations, but little legal or regulatory progress around pill presses has been made in the last two years. PSM urges federal action on this issue: The pill press as a vehicle for the distribution of dangerous drugs is not going away.
Federal resources about pill presses
DEA Pill Press Resources: Enforcement news, including slides from a briefing about Operation Pillstop, photos, and links to press releases about recent seizures and prosecutions.
PSM resources about pill presses
Anyone with a pill press has the power to make any kind of counterfeit pill, whether that's fake oxycodone made with fentanyl or blood thinners with no active ingredient.
In 2019 we gathered experts and family advocates to speak about illegal pill presses. Watch highlights or the entire event on YouTube.
LAPPA's Pill Presses: Summary of State Laws (February 2021) offers a thorough survey of state statutes.
As of October 2020, counterfeit pills made with fentanyl had been reported in all 50 states.
Do You Know What A Pill Press Is? (2019 infographic)
Pill press news on Safemedicines.org
Media coverage of pill presses
- Pill distributor sentenced to nine years in prison for trafficking tens of thousands of pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamineNovember 26, 2024
- How a Mass. drug bust led feds to a major California arrestNovember 22, 2024
- Eastern District of California | Stockton man sentenced to 15 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine pills and illegal firearms possession | United States Department of JusticeNovember 14, 2024
- District of Massachusetts | Massachusetts man sentenced to 10 years in prison for drug conspiracy involving tens of thousands of counterfeit pills | United States Department of JusticeNovember 14, 2024
- Dealer caught crafting ecstasy pills from grandmother's shedNovember 13, 2024
- Gang sentenced for Scunthrope etizolam drug-making operationNovember 8, 2024
- Florida man and woman sentenced for conspiracy to sell counterfeit drugs on dark web | Internal Revenue ServiceNovember 5, 2024
- How 3D printing technologies could undermine law enforcement strategies targeting the production and distribution of designer drugsNovember 2024
- 'Machine Guy' jailed after supplying drugs equipmentNovember 1, 2024
- Two men caught at £1m illicit pill-making factory in Dalkeith garden shed | STV NewsOctober 31, 2024