250: Part 1: Fake Pills Are Killing Americans: A DEA Agent's Warning

Game of Crimes

True Crime

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2026

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Part 1 of this episode of Game of Crimes, two retired DEA law enforcement experts, Derek Maltz and Aaron Graham, pull back the curtain on one of the deadliest crises in American history: counterfeit prescription pills laced with synthetic fentanyl — and the $4.5 billion global death trade fueling it.

These aren't street drugs. They're stamped, pressed, and packaged to look exactly like Xanax, Adderall, and Percocet. Cartel chemists are manufacturing them by the millions. Two milligrams — smaller than a few grains of salt — is a lethal dose. And many of these pills carry ten times that amount.

Transcript

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0:30.0	Tell me if I get this wrong, guys, but over half of the online pharmacies are illegal pharmacies, is that correct?
0:34.5	So the National Association Board of Pharmacies has vetted online pharmacies
0:38.1	for 10 or 15 years. They have found that 95% of the online pharmacies marketing to the United
0:45.5	States are operating illegally. 95%. Wow. So the very easy clue, you don't have to be a brain
0:52.9	surgeon to see this. If you go online to www.chipmedicine.com and they tell you the medicine is coming from Turkey, India, Canada, it's illegal. Medicine cannot be brought to the United States. It is unapproved and it's branded, period, let alone, who knows what's in it? Who knows what the efficacy is? Nobody. So I don't want
1:12.2	to promote online medicine. Very simply said, if you go to CVS.com, you have a prescription, right? They
1:16.6	have medicine. There are online sellers in the United States that are approved on safe dot pharmacy.
1:22.1	There's also a list of pharmacies that are legal, online pharmacies, sellers that are legal. So choose one of those.
1:28.0	I'm Steve Murphy, DEA Special Agent Retired and now host of the Game of Crimes podcast.
1:33.4	If you've seen the Netflix series Narcos, then you know my story.
1:37.9	I now bring you stories of heroism and bravery from our law enforcement and military heroes
1:43.2	and occasionally from the criminals that they faced.
1:46.8	Welcome to Game of Crimes.
2:00.6	Hey, everybody. Welcome back to this week's edition of Game of Crimes with Murph in the morning.
2:05.5	I'm just laughing, excited, just like every week because the guests I bring on here, I've got two of my oldest friends with me today.
2:12.3	We've been talking about doing this interview for, gosh, months, if not years.
2:16.9	Finally got everyone on everybody's schedule.
2:18.5	And actually, they've been patient with me because, you know, it's getting to where I can't do two things at one time anymore.
	...

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