CHICAGO (WLS) — The drug threat landscape in Chicago is constantly evolving, and so is the Drug Enforcement Administration’s efforts to combat deadly drugs like fentanyl from flooding streets. The DEA is now tracking a new trend.

Cartels are changing how fentanyl is produced and distributed in the U.S. and new intelligence finding fentanyl pills are being made closer to home, over the border and stateside.

The ABC7 I-Team went inside the Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago division’s lab. It is the beating heart of forensic analysis for the massive amounts of seized drugs being dissected, tested by chemists to get a detailed readout of what’s inside.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

At one bench were mounds of M-30s, which are hydrocodone pills. While they are blue and stamped with the same label, they are counterfeit and contain fentanyl.

“We’ve seen a shift of the of the Mexican cartels away from the mass production of, of counterfeit pills M-30s,” said Todd Smith the Deputy Special Agent In Charge of the DEA Chicago Division.

Smith says over the past year he’s seen a concerning change in how cartels carry their contraband into the country. Instead of fully formed fentanyl pills, he says there’s been a significant increase in fentanyl powder brought over the border.

“We’ve seen that through an increase in fentanyl powder seizures in the Chicago field division,” Smith said. “And our concern is that the pills will be pressed domestically, and we’re starting to see that with pill press seizures that we’re making with across the field division and in Chicago.”

SEE ALSO | Cook Co. sees dramatic decrease in fentanyl deaths; advocates warn against false sense of security

The latest year to date numbers for 2025 from the DEA Chicago Field Division finds 1.6 million counterfeit pills with fentanyl seized so far this year.

Smith is adamant the pills are still coming, but he’s continuing to watch those areas of growing concern.

There were 864 pounds of fentanyl powder seized so far this year. That’s up 67% from last year.

Counterfeit meth pills totaled nearly 470,000 seized so far this year. That’s up a staggering 13 times from 2024, with only 32,000 seized last year.

RELATED | DEA Chicago field office touts progress after record fentanyl busts: I-TEAM EXCLUSIVE

“Cartels are evolving and changing, and as they evolve and change, the DEA will evolve and change,” promised Smith.

He says that is why the DEA has started a new campaign, “Fentanyl Free America,” to focus on disrupting the supply chain of precursor chemicals and fentanyl powder. As deaths from the drug continue to decline across the country, the concern has not.

“We will not rest at DEA until the Sinaloa cartel and the cjng cartels are defeated and brought to justice,” Smith said.

Smith emphasized this new campaign is about protecting citizens through drug enforcement and disruption operations, preventing overdoses and supporting affected families.

Copyright © 2025 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.