Number of fentanyl deaths in Orange, LA counties sharply drops as law enforcement pushes against the crisis

The number of people dying in Orange County from fentanyl had its sharpest drop since the crisis with that opioid began about a decade ago, mirroring a regional trend, statistics from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department show.

The 407 deaths in 2024 was a 34% drop from the year before — and 43% less than the worst year, 2021 — when fentanyl killed 717.

“Fentanyl is impacting everybody equally,” Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said in an interview with the Southern California News Group. “Socioeconomic status doesn’t matter. Race doesn’t matter.

“It just doesn’t pick,” he said. “It goes and just gets everybody equally.”

Sometimes, people don’t know they are taking fentanyl.

Pills can be stamped to make them look like Xanax or OxyContin, the sheriff said, “(but) there’s no pharmaceut