CLEVELAND — The Drug Enforcement Administration reported it seized more than 20 million counterfeit pills last year, with some pills containing deadly traces of fentanyl and methamphetamine.

According to the DEA, drug traffickers are using fake pills to exploit the opioid crisis and prescription drug misuse. The agency's lab testing revealed the counterfeit pills often contain a lethal dose of fentanyl.

The DEA started the “One Pill Can Kill” campaign in October to educate people on the dangers of illicit drugs.

The agency provided an update on the campaign Tuesday, reporting that nationwide, more than 8.4 million fake prescription pills have been seized since the campaign started four months ago.  

It seized a total of 20 million counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl in a one year period, as of December.

Jim Rauh’s son, Tom, died after unknowingly taking fentanyl.

“My son was poisoned with acetyl fentanyl that was produced by the Zaang drug trafficking organization,” Rauh said. “They were prosecuted three years later in China by our government for producing these poisonous chemicals and shipping them over here, but they’re still manufacturing in Mexico.” 

The DEA said almost all of the illicit drugs are entering through Mexico, and that the counterfeit pills look almost identical to the real prescriptions received from a pharmacy, including Adderall, Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin and more.

"What these international drug trafficking organizations are taking advantage of is our comfort level for taking these pills for legitimate medical use, and they are designing these pills to look exactly like their legitimate counterparts,” said DEA public information officer Brian McNeal. “You can’t tell with the naked eye what’s real and what’s fake. They’re using these disguised fake pills to traffic them into the United States and flood the market with these fake pills."

While drug seizures have increased during the past year, so has the availability of the pills.

The DEA said it's as easy as using coded emoji’s to get drugs on the internet. Drug dealers and users are using emoji drug codes on social media apps to do business.

The CDC reported more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. during 2021. It only takes enough fentanyl that fits on the tip of a pencil to kill.

Rauh started an organization in Akron, Families against Fentanyl to help get the drug classified as a weapon of mass destruction.

“We can stop this," said Rauh. "We have the power. Our kids have to know that this is out there, and that they’re being targeted, and they need to look out for each other, they need to be educated. There’s no safe drug at all."