The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made record seizures in four Mountain States last year, most of which were funneled through the southern border by two cartels. 

In 2025, the DEA seized 8,729,000 fentanyl pills and nearly 3,100 pounds of methamphetamine across the four-state Mountain region that includes Colorado, Utah, Montana and Wyoming, the agency said in a news release. 

“These numbers are absolutely staggering. Colorado saw a 76% increase in pill seizures year over year. Utah pill seizures doubled. This should not only be a wake-up call, but a jolt to every citizen in our four-state region,” said DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge David Olesky. 

CARTEL LEADER ADMITS THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S CARTEL CRACKDOWN HAS MADE THEIR LIVES DIFFICULT

Nationwide, the DEA seized around 47 million pills. 

In Colorado, the state saw its largest methamphetamine bust in April with 733 pounds of the drug and the largest one-time fentanyl pill seizure in November of 1.7 million pills. 

Cesar Avila, DEA assistant special agent in charge who oversees Wyoming and Montana, told Cowboy State Daily that the bulk of the drugs were being distributed to cartel networks — the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) — in cities like Denver and Salt Lake City, which then distribute them in Wyoming. 

“When you’re dealing with the user population, they are more in it for effects and not for the profit margins,” Avila told the newspaper. “They’re not necessarily doing it for the business side of things; they’re doing it more because they need that particular addiction.”

FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL CALLS KENSINGTON DRUG TAKEDOWN ‘HOW YOU SAFEGUARD AMERICAN CITIES’

Avila speculated that both cartels have a presence in most, if not all Wyoming communities.  

South of the border, cartels primarily use tractor trailers to haul the drugs to the larger hubs, he said. The drugs are either transported by individual drivers or through the mail into Wyoming, he added. 

“DEA remains committed to targeting the drug cartels who operate within our four states, and we will continue to dismantle the networks responsible for poisoning and killing people in our communities,” Olesky said.

So far in 2026, the DEA has seized more than 239,000 fentanyl pills and more than 10,000 methamphetamine pills, according to DEA figures. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The Trump administration has declared war on fentanyl, first by targeting suspected drug smuggling boats at sea with military airstrikes and pressuring Mexico and China, the primary source of chemicals used to produce the illicit drug, through tariffs. 

The Bay Area has experienced a number of shootings where the suspected shooter were all young people. In November, gunfire rang out at Oakland’s Skyline High School and San Jose’s Westfield Mall and Burton High in San Francisco in December.

NBC Bay Area sat down with a group of young people in San Francisco, both survivors and perpetrators to ask them what was driving this gun violence amongst youth, the impact of social media when it comes to guns and what can be done.

High school teenagers, Ziggy Brown, Xavier Ballard, Terronnie Fields and Keenan Erwin, have attended programs at San Francisco’s United Playaz, a violence and prevention youth development program.

The 18-year-old Erwin was shot in December at Burton High in the city’s Portola neighborhood. He says there was a dispute with another student and that student shot him. Keenan’s femur was shattered.

“It was just crazy, hearing it happen to people and like not even thinking it could happen to you. What hurts more than that bullet was hearing your mama cry thinking that was her last time. Hearing you, seeing you breathe on this earth and hearing her cry,” he said.

NBC Bay Area asked them about the problem of gun violence amongst youth.

“No matter where you are, you could really just run into the wrong person that day,” Brown said.

“It could be anybody any age because it’s such a problem, like we have kids running around thinking that guns are cool to have,” Ballard said.

Brown and Ballard thought it was cool. In December 2024, the two ended up in juvenile hall for theft, robbing other people with a BB gun at Serramonte Mall. Ballard spent a week in a half in juvie. Ziggy three weeks.

“It’s such a bad mistake and it was so like dumb,” Ballard said.

Brown talked about a question his lawyer asked him.

“He asked me, ‘Why did you do that? He’s like, he spoke real to me. He’s like, Why did you do that dumb** s***? You’re speaking to me with intelligence. Why did you do that?’ I told him I didn’t love myself. I didn’t care about myself enough,” he said.

In 2021, gun violence replaced car crashes as the leading cause of death for children in the U.S. and has remained the leading killer, disporportionately affecting communities of color.

Social media is also having an impact on them.

“I feel like the social media is like it’s the humiliation part,” Ballard said. “It makes it to where people want to prove a point. Cause like for example, if somebody were to get like beat up or something and they seen it on the internet, then it’s like, okay, now I have to like get back.”

There is no data directly linking social media to crime, but research suggests social media is an accelerant. Erin Grinshteyn, an associate dean and professor at the University of San Francisco, studies gun violence as a public health issue.

“Social media has the capacity to disseminate gun violence information far more broadly than if you’re just exposed within your specific community,” Grinshteyn said. “What we’re seeing is that people who are exposed to gun violence in their community have negative mental health consequences. I think often times people think that a gun will make them safer, and all the research shows that having access to a firearm puts you in far more danger.”

If Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins has hurdles to clear to be activated from injured reserve for Sunday’s AFC Championship game, he appears to be off to a good start.

Dobbins was involved in the portion of practice open to reporters on Wednesday, including individual work and ball security drills. The team afterward listed him as a limited participant.

Head coach Sean Payton declined to say anything about Dobbins, including whether he had a realistic chance to play Sunday.

Quarterback Sam Ehlinger came away impressed after Dobbins’ first day of practice.

“He looked great. Y’all saw what I saw. He looked really good,” Ehlinger said. “I think our training staff has done a great job of getting him prepared. Obviously, a quick turnaround. He’s in shape and ready to roll, and hopefully we can have him on Sunday.”

Dobbins has been on injured reserve since the middle of November due to a Lisfranc injury in his left foot sustained Nov. 7 against Las Vegas.

The initial thought from sources around Dobbins was that his best chance to return this season was if Denver advanced all the way to the Super Bowl, allowing for the maximum amount of recovery time. Later in the season, though, head coach Sean Payton hinted that Dobbins had a chance to return earlier in the postseason.

Dobbins himself has told people in the Broncos’ building throughout his rehabilitation that he would be back for the playoffs, though ultimately, he was not ready to return for Denver’s divisional game last week against Buffalo.

Dobbins signed with Denver in June and was one of the NFL’s most productive backs over the first half of the season. In 10 games, he rushed for 772 yards (5.0 per carry) and four touchdowns. He sustained the Lisfranc injury when he got tackled by Raiders defensive lineman Tyree Wilson on a play Dobbins believed was an illegal hip-drop tackle.

Dobbins and the Broncos spent more than a week going through potential treatment options before the back eventually had surgery.