Last week we shared two articles that expressed the dangers surrounding the drug Fentanyl, and the disturbing actions a pharmaceutical company has taken to ensure a high rate of sales. Over the past few months Fentanyl has made news for numerous reasons — most prominently as the drug involved in the musician Prince’s death from overdose. An article published in the New York Times last week now discusses the interest that Mexican cartels are taking in the drug because of its extreme potency and profitability in the United States. States like California, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire have had alarming rises in overdose deaths and have seen Fentanyl penetrating their drug markets, for which officials are blaming Mexico’s cartels and warn that they are using their own labs to produce the drug. There are some experts who are wary about overemphasizing the role of cartels due to a lack of hard data showing how extensive their involvement may be. However, a possible reason that Fentanyl is not showing up in the majority of drug seizures in Mexico is because the Mexican authorities have not been testing for it. Meanwhile, American law enforcement across the United States has seen a massive rise in recovered Fentanyl, from 640 samples tested in 2010 to 13,002 samples tested last year.