Kevin Conway with Col. Steve O'Donnell

Kevin Conway is the supervisor special agent of the drug enforcement administration. I asked him if he could come on and talk about what is happening locally in Rhode Island when it comes to fentanyl. I'm aware of a lot of seizures that have happened here locally in Providence a couple weeks ago. I think they arrested somebody with 10 kilos of fentanyl, and I think it's important for the listening audience to understand. They hear about it, what fentanyl is, the dangers of it, methamphetamine, those drugs that are floating around. Rhode Island, not just Rhode Island, but elsewhere. So, Kevin, from the Seekons Compli hotline, welcome to the Tara Granahan Show. Thanks, Steve. I really appreciate it. Appreciate your time. So again, those who are listening, Kevin's in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration here locally and coming out of Boston. So talk to us about what's happening in the fentanyl world, methamphetamine world, whatever is out there. I think it's important for the listeners to hear and understanding what DEA, local, and state police are doing about it. Sure. Thanks, Steve. So we, at the DEA, our focus is enforcing drug laws and identifying drug trafficking organizations locally, nationally, and worldwide. So in Rhode Island specifically, we've had, you know, starting our fiscal year, it runs October to September. So this current fiscal year we're in, we've had record. fentanyl pill seizures what we call counterfeit fentanyl pills which are sold to be the like genuine you know M30 oxies so the the opioid problem is still is still here on the forefront that's our that's our main focus that's the most that's what we see mostly like you've mentioned in the beginning there we did just have a 10 kilo fentanyl seizure which like fentanyl powder comes in the the brick form that was coming into Providence and that was seized by one of our task force groups which is made up, DEA agents, state and local agencies, and that was a big success. And Kevin, so the listeners understand kilos. That's, you know, almost 24 pounds of 10 kilos, 22 pounds plus of fentanyl, which would you know offhand how many people if they ingested that would die? I mean, off top, I mean, with fentanyl, it's, so a kilo is 2.2 pounds per per kilogram per brick. So yeah, it's around that 22 pounds, which is a significant amount for the, not only just Rhode Island, but the region. That's a pretty major seizure. And, I mean, we're talking, if you can picture, you know, a kilo, a kilogram of fentanyl, which is that looks like, would look like a cinder block basically for the,

listeners to kind of visualize it. I mean, a grain, picture the amount of a grain or two of salt of fentanyl, that's enough. That's a lethal dose that could kill an adult human. So extrapolate that to 22, 23-ish pounds of that deadly drug. I mean, you're in the hundreds of thousands of lethal doses that that could eventually, you know, get out to the streets. What would you do if your online store converted 36% more shoppers? You could take 36% more vacation. Another pinacolada? Yes, please. Open a new retail location. With 36% more square feet. Fantastic. Hire 36% more help. You're hired and you're hired. Shopify has the world's best converting checkout, up to 36% better than other e-commerce platforms. What you do with those extra sales is up to you. Switch to Shopify today at Shopify.com slash listen and get a $1 trial. Shopify.com. Listen. Start your day with the morning jolt of Drake C. Toll. See, now it's on demand. My podcast is kind of a radio thing, I think, but also it's a bit of a TV show, and it's about whatever I want it to be. It's listening live as it happened, when it happened, with the instant reaction. You're home for talking sports. We go back, the Great Toll Show, Westwood One Sports Network, and there will be on demand on your radio. Anywhere in the country, I'll see you there. Westwood One Sports Talk, your home for Drake C. Toll. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. which is which I use the word insane it's just incredible and then the person that gets arrested for that typically you know got guns and drugs involved in most of these seizures and talk about the dangers when that is to your agents and the local and state police when they're approaching and the detail that goes into these investigations not just you walk in a door and you find 10 kilos there's a lot that goes into the backdrop of investigatory prowess I guess by the agents Yeah, 100%. Everything we do is dangerous. Most of the targets that we deal with on a daily basis. you know, have guns, always mixed with drugs. We recently had one a few weeks ago in Rhode Island. It was an investigation into an organization, and that the subject that we arrested came down from Lawrence Mass, which is a really a source city for New England. Interesting side piece, not to interrupt you, is my got a text this morning. The mayor of Lawrence just got arrested. for fraud. Yes. And so I don't know if he's related to drug activity. Crazy. It is, yes, that is crazy. Lawrence is to just kind of say a little bit about that, I mean, like I said, regionally, I mean, from D.C. all the way north up to here to New England. Lawrence is the hub. Like it is controlled by Dominican drug trafficking organizations with connections, strong connections to Mexico.

And that's where all this fentanyl and methamphetamine is coming to. So it comes into the Northeast, Lawrence, and also Providence is a big hub as well in New England. It would be Lawrence and Providence. And, yeah, it's just, you know, that's a different investigation with the mayor there. It had nothing to do with us. But it's just a unique kind of instance that just happened that we'll, I'm sure, be aware of. Yeah, and you have the 95 pipeline. I remember when I was on the line that got 30 years ago, Lawrence was the hub, still was the hub in transportation, which is trucks, cars, train. Any way it gets up the highway that it's a unit, this thankless position. So what about meth? I know meth is very pronounced in lots of places the country, and I've been hearing that there's a little tick uptick, so to speak, if that's the proper word of meth use in this region. Yeah, it really, in Rhode Island specifically, we've had, we have two enforcement groups, DEA enforcement groups, like I said, that's made up of state and local partners. And we've, over the last year, we've seen a lot, a big increase in meth, both crystal meth in that form that comes in like the crystallized that is like pretty much 90 to 100% pure. And then also that meth is pressed into counterfeit Adderall pills. Like they're the kind of round orange pills that look identical to an Adderall that you would get from a doctor and a pharmacy. And those are, we seize those by the tens of thousands. And those are, you know, they really hit our, you know, younger high school college population because it's. You know, the stigma of, you know, nobody wants to smoke meth or, you know, there's that really, you know, old school stigma behind that, like, of the junkie thing. And with the pills, like, everyone's accustomed to taking a pill. Like, there's no, if you take a pill, nobody's, nobody thinks twice about it. So that's a real, you know, our, obviously enforcement is our number one thing at the DEA, but also outreach, education, you know, letting, getting that info out to the young kids is. is really important because, you know, as of, you know, the overdose deaths are trending down over the last couple of years, which is great. But it's still, you know, a top cause of death between kids ages 17 to 22. It's one of the number one causes of death is, you know, fentanyl poisoning, poisonings, methamphetamine, because these pills, these kids take them, and they don't know what's in them. They're thinking they can order them online, they can get them from a friend, and they think it's a... a legitimate pill and you take it and it's got a deadly dose and it's the it ends your life you know immediately nope i got to be quick so i got to move on we got to get to news shortly but okay i appreciate i'll follow up a little bit later on the show with some other tidbits about it but i appreciate your work i'll pass on our best to all the people out there doing that work and make make sure everybody's safe great appreciate it thank you

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