How Drug Cartels Infiltrated the Prescription Drug Market with Fake Pills: Michael Brown

In recent years, drug cartels have built a vast and lucrative business selling fake prescription drugs laced with fentanyl,

which drives addiction faster than any other synthetic narcotic, says Michael Brown, who was a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration for over three decades.

The majority of people dying from fentanyl-related overdoses now are taking what they think is a fairly innocuous prescription drug like Xanax, and they have no idea it’s been laced with fentanyl, he says.

In this episode, he breaks down this new drug cartel business model, how the supply chain works, the role of Chinese money laundering proxies, and what he believes it would take to turn the situation around.

Watch the full Episode