The Seattle area notched a grim record for deaths that involved fentanyl last year, with more than a thousand fatal overdoses.
King County saw a total of 1,284 fatal overdoses from drugs and alcohol in 2023, and 1,060 of them involved fentanyl, according to county data.
Another 72 suspected overdoses from last year are pending toxicology reports.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is about 50 times more potent than heroin, has been on the rise in the U.S. for years, but last year’s numbers are more than a 30% spike over 2022, which saw 717 fentanyl-related deaths in King County.
The deadly synthetic opioid is inexpensive to make, easily transported, and has been increasingly smuggled over the southern border by Mexican cartels.
In King County, fentanyl has shown up in both powder and rock form and caused fatal overdoses involving the drug to skyrocket over the last few years.
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