The FEND Off Fentanyl Act was signed into law this week to declare the trafficking of fentanyl as a national emergency. It’ll impose economic sanctions on those who engage in the international trafficking of illicit fentanyl, the chemicals used to make fentanyl, or other related opioids.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who co-sponsored the law, joined law enforcement from across Minnesota on a call Friday to explain how it may help fight the fentanyl crisis because ‘one pill can kill.’

“We have the ability to go after who’s really supplying this stuff. This is a billion dollar operation,” Klobuchar explained that the money from the sanctions will used to fund local law enforcement agencies in their fights.

Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa was grateful saying that one life lost from fentanyl is too many, “The FEND Off Fentanyl Act is definitely a step in the right direction. What we know in Duluth is that we cannot do with work without out state, local, county, and federal partners.”

In 2023, the Lake Superior Violent Offenders Task Force seized over 19,000 pills, but that isn’t enough.

“There is a price disparity. We know tour dealers, our organizations are buying them out of Minneapolis, Chicago. or having them drop-shipped to a random address. We’re they’re buying pills around a dollar. And they’re able to sell that here for around $16.”

Moorhead’s Chief of Police said on the call that they’ve been seeing fentanyl pills laces with Xylazine, a veterinary drug, coming in from their west, which he described as especially concerning because naloxone can not reverse an overdose of xylazine.