The border in your backyard: Mexican cartels fuel record fentanyl, meth busts in Rocky Mountain states

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made record seizures in four Mountain States last year, most of which were funneled through the southern border by two cartels. 

In 2025, the DEA seized 8,729,000 fentanyl pills and nearly 3,100 pounds of methamphetamine across the four-state Mountain region that includes Colorado, Utah, Montana and Wyoming, the agency said in a news release. 

"These numbers are absolutely staggering. Colorado saw a 76% increase in pill seizures year over year.