{"id":123481,"date":"2026-04-06T16:20:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T22:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/fentanyl-deaths-rise-in-the-four-corners-despite-national-decline\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T12:37:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T18:37:55","slug":"fentanyl-deaths-rise-in-the-four-corners-despite-national-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/fentanyl-deaths-rise-in-the-four-corners-despite-national-decline\/","title":{"rendered":"Fentanyl deaths rise in the Four Corners despite national decline"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Synthetic
Synthetic opioids \u2013 mainly fentanyl \u2013 are causing more deaths in Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. An intricate network of drug traffickers hiding in vast, rural expanses operates near the intersection of the Four Corners states, providing locals with a dangerous supply. (Dylan Jenkins\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

In the far northwestern corner of New Mexico, San Juan County stretches across high desert mesas and long, lonely roads at the intersection of Arizona, Colorado and Utah. The landscape is vast and rural, shaped by oilfield traffic, scattered towns and rough terrain.<\/p>\n

To the east lies Rio Arriba County, which has the highest overdose rate in New Mexico, underscoring the region\u2019s vulnerability to trafficking routes.<\/p>\n

Across northern New Mexico\u2019s wide-open desert, drug networks can more easily evade law enforcement, exploiting distance and preying on a history of substance use tied to the area\u2019s boom-and-bust economy.<\/p>\n

The mix of drugs and violence, Sgt. Nima Babadi said, took hold decades ago with the rise of the oil industry.<\/p>\n

\"Utility
Utility towers in San Juan County, New Mexico. (NM Political Report)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cNew Mexico has always been bound with narcotics,\u201d Babadi said, alongside stimulants like meth. \u201cPeople working oilfield jobs, long hours \u2013 that\u2019s when they started bringing meth here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fentanyl began appearing more frequently in San Juan County in 2020, and Babadi noticed a shift. Violent crime increased as the synthetic opioid spread, deepening the toll on towns already grappling with addiction.<\/p>\n

Even as overdose deaths have declined nationally over the past year, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona have reported increases in synthetic opioid fatalities in the Four Corners. Fentanyl is the primary culprit.<\/p>\n

A network of fentanyl distributors continues to operate as regional narcotics task forces seize large quantities year after year and work with federal officials to pursue indictments. But the seizures have not deterred drug syndicates or eased the strain on Four Corners communities caught in the drug\u2019s web.<\/p>\n

\"Data
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Source:
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
New Mexico and Colorado, partners in crime<\/div>\n

Rising fentanyl seizures and overdose deaths in northern New Mexico mirror trends in Southwest Colorado, revealing a cross-border drug trade that has entrenched the two states in the same fight.<\/p>\n

In San Juan County, the fentanyl supply has surged. The first year the task force tracked fentanyl seizures was 2020, when officers confiscated 0.2 grams. By 2024, they seized about 72,000 fentanyl-laced pills and 96 grams of fentanyl powder.<\/p>\n

Since December 2024, New Mexico has recorded a 21% increase in synthetic opioid overdose deaths, the second-highest rise in the nation. Northern New Mexico includes some of the state\u2019s most heavily affected counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe disadvantage experienced by those places \u2013 it\u2019s only gotten wider and wider, and there\u2019s not a lot of opportunity or industry, or other things that people can do,\u201d said Phillip Fiuty, a technical adviser for the state\u2019s adulterant-checking program, which monitors the makeup of illicit substances sold on the streets. \u201cThat then makes communities everywhere susceptible to things like substance use.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Juan County\u2019s location also makes it a natural corridor for cross-state distribution, with easy access to Southwest Colorado and the Navajo Nation in Arizona.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they bring drugs here then they can go to Durango, they can go to Cortez, the Navajo reservation,\u201d Babadi said.<\/p>\n

Southwest Colorado has become a hotspot for synthetic opioids as well. Detective Sgt. Victor Galarza of the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office considers Cortez a major hub of fentanyl distribution in the Four Corners.<\/p>\n

Galarza is one of two members of the Montezuma-Cortez Narcotics Investigation Team, which has conducted large narcotics seizures over the past eight years.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come to Cortez to get their products,\u201d Galarza said. \u201cOur main assignment for the Montezuma-Cortez Narcotics Investigation Team is to do large-scale investigations to prevent these large-scale organizations from taking over with impunity our region to use it as a base to distribute narcotics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organized Mexican drug trafficking operations, some with roots in the community, drive much of the distribution, Galarza said. But the team faces an uphill battle because of limited funding and staffing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are one of the smallest drug task forces in Colorado,\u201d Galarza said, despite the scale of trafficking affecting Southwest Colorado. \u201cWe are behind the curve because we have no manpower at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin said he removed a criminal analyst from the team because of funding constraints, and county commissioners have denied his requests for additional support. Those setbacks come as Colorado has seen a 17% increase in synthetic opioid overdose deaths since December 2024.<\/p>\n

\"Fentanyl
Fentanyl pills seized by Sgt. Nima Babadi's team in San Juan County. (Courtesy San Juan County Sheriff's Office)<\/span>Nima Babadi<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"More
More than 3 pounds of meth and more than 1,000 fentanyl pills seized by the Montezuma-Cortez Narcotics Investigations Team. In 2025, the group seized more than $13 million in drugs. (Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Utah, a single regional outlier<\/div>\n

While the rest of the Four Corners states grapple with rising synthetic opioid deaths, Utah has begun to move in a different direction.<\/p>\n

Bill Newell, coordinator for Utah\u2019s fentanyl task force, said a series of changes helped shift the state away from trends seen in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2024, our governor, Gov. (Spencer) Cox, reached out to the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety due to the fact that \u2013 at that time \u2013 Utah was bucking the trend in a bad way,\u201d Newell said. \u201cWe were on the uptick when other states were on the downtick.\u201d<\/p>\n

The task force was formed that year, bringing together community organizations, local health departments, law enforcement and Drug Enforcement Administration officials.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Utah law enforcement seized 4.7 million dosage units of fentanyl, and nearly 600 people died of drug overdoses. In 2025, officers confiscated nearly twice that amount while overdose deaths dropped by about half.<\/p>\n

Using statewide seizure data, the task force helped pass a House bill last year that significantly increased penalties for drug trafficking. Possession of at least 100 grams of any substance containing fentanyl now carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has made an impact because word got out among traffickers that we\u2019re not playing around anymore with this,\u201d Newell said.<\/p>\n

The bill passed with bipartisan support and was designed to target distributors rather than people addicted to the drug, Newell said. Still, he cautioned against attributing Utah\u2019s progress to any single factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s really no magic answer,\u201d Newell said. \u201cOur drug task forces around the state are doing a phenomenal job seizing ever more and more amounts of fentanyl. Because of those efforts we are seeing a decline \u2013 about 10% \u2013 in fentanyl- or illicit-substance-involved deaths. Now is that the only reason? Of course not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newell also pointed to public education efforts and lower drug potency statewide, which he attributed to increased border enforcement and tighter restrictions on precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, limiting the reach of Mexican drug cartels.<\/p>\n

Despite those gains, Utah continues to struggle with synthetic opioid use in rural areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadly, our rural areas \u2013 especially our tribal communities \u2013 is where we have some pretty serious issues that we\u2019re trying to address because their resources there are more limited than they are in an area like the greater Salt Lake area,\u201d Newell said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>