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WGN Investigates

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is cracking down on the deadly drug fentanyl as dealers try to ship it to the United States. WGN Investigates received special access to go inside Chicago’s International Mail Facility near O’Hare International Airport.

CBP’s acting deputy commissioner Ronald Vitiello has been following the rise in fentanyl cases. The powerful drug, which is hundred times more powerful than morphine, has killed thousands of people.

“A lot of the stuff is being shipped in mostly from China and it looks like something with tea bags but in fact it has narcotics,” Vitiello said.

Homeland Security is taking the fentanyl crisis very seriously. Out in Utah, a group of six were indicted on multiple counts of fentanyl-related charges, including using the mail to get the stuff to the U.S.  In October, there was another case where 21 people were indicted on federal drug charges.