The Drug Enforcement Administration's Chicago Field Office told the I-Team it has seen a significant increase in methamphetamine seizures this year. According to the administration, more meth has been seized in the first half of the year than during all of last year combined.
The warning comes as the DEA says some methamphetamine is being sold in pills represented as ecstasy, MDMA or molly.
The I-Team was inside the DEA-Chicago drug lab, where forensic chemists analyze powders and pills seized during investigations.
Pills stamped with popular cartoon images and marketed as party drugs tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the agency.
"The foreign terrorist organizations Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG Cartel are really producing a lot of methamphetamine, and last year it was nearly pure methamphetamine," said Todd Smith, special agent in charge of the DEA's Chicago Field Office.
Since the beginning of the year, Smith said the Chicago Field Office has seized more than 3,038 pounds of methamphetamine, or about 1.5 tons. According to DEA data, that total exceeds the amount seized during all last year and the year before.
"You know, a decade ago, the Chicago area did not see a lot of methamphetamine. That's changed. There is a lot of methamphetamine available, and unfortunately, is being put into these counterfeit pills," Smith said.
Smith explained Mexican cartels are receiving precursor chemicals from China and India and increasing methamphetamine production as efforts to reduce fentanyl have progressed.
"We have seen the lethality of the fentanyl pills come down, but we've also seen a shift to powders. We've seen more fentanyl powder and more methamphetamine powder and crystal coming to the United States," Smith said.
The DEA also pointed to pill-making operations, including one uncovered earlier this year in Indiana, where powders can be pressed into counterfeit pills.
Asked about conditions in such operations, Smith said: "The conditions are awful. We walk into these counterfeit labs, and they're an absolute mess. There's powder everywhere, unsanitary conditions."
The agency said the concern is heightened during the summer festival season because methamphetamine can increase body temperature, impair the brain's ability to regulate heat and make it more difficult for the heart to compensate during extreme heat.
"Because you have that fight-or-flight response there's also going to be some sweating that's induced and dehydration," said JasLynn Murphy, a senior forensic chemist with the DEA Chicago Field Office.
The DEA is urging parents to discuss the dangers of counterfeit pills with their children before major festivals and as students prepare to return to school, officials said.