Pennsylvania Launches Aggressive Fentanyl Crackdown Amid National Crisis

The fight against fentanyl has become “an all-hands-on-deck effort,” as law enforcement agencies across Pennsylvania work together to remove tens of millions of lethal doses from circulation, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday told Newsmax.
“Pennsylvania is obviously a beautiful, wonderful state, [but] when you look at fentanyl and the way it’s decimated our community and our state, it’s everywhere,” Sunday said on Newsmax’s “National Report.” The problem isn’t only in Pennsylvania’s big cities like Philadelphia or Pittsburgh but also harms rural areas of the state, he added.
“It is shredding families,” he said. “It is absolutely, astronomically bad.” His comments follow a recent law enforcement operation in Philadelphia that resulted in federal charges against 33 people tied to a major drug-trafficking ring accused of distributing fentanyl and other narcotics.
Sunday noted that through September, more than 50 million doses of fentanyl had been seized statewide this year, surpassing the total confiscated in 2024. He also highlighted President Donald Trump’s diplomatic efforts with Chinese President Xi Jinping to limit the flow of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl as helping fight the drug crisis nationwide.
“When you have a president of the United States who is out there fighting for this issue, that gives all of us hope,” he said. “It’s also being fought around the world and that’s exactly what we need to hear.” Sunday added that each dose seized represents a potential life saved, emphasizing that 50 million doses equate to 50 million lives that could have been lost.
“Everybody is on the same page,” he stated, noting that “everybody is rowing in the same direction” and that this unity is crucial for community safety. Turning to the federal government shutdown, Sunday expressed concern over millions of Pennsylvanians potentially losing access to SNAP benefits and warned of scammers exploiting vulnerable residents. He praised state Treasurer Stacy Garrity’s efforts to resolve the issue but cautioned against fraudsters targeting SNAP recipients.
“My hope is that we will have more creative solutions like that,” he said.