(The Center Square) – Drug-related deaths are down 19%, opioid-caused deaths are down 42% and fentanyl-caused deaths are down 46%, says a report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Florida Medical Examiners Commission.
“Thanks to our investments and policies to empower law enforcement, drug-related deaths declined significantly last year,” said second-term Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Lawmen have seized cocaine, methamphetamines, millions of dollars in cash and vehicles from suspected drug dealers as part of the increased enforcement.
“The amount of fentanyl needed to kill a lot of people is not very big,” DeSantis said. “If you look at what the state’s program has done, they’ve had 3,000 arrests, 600 pounds of fentanyl, 65,000 fentanyl pills. That is almost enough fentanyl to kill almost half the U.S. population.
“These are big busts and they keep our communities safer.”
The report cited by the governor was not immediately available on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement website. Nationally, drug overdose deaths are also falling, but not as quickly as in Florida.
From December 2024 to December 2025, reported deaths dropped 15.1%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the beginning of 2021, there were 5,791 people dying of fentanyl overdoses in Florida, Mark Glass, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said Wednesday.
That number, according to the new report, has dropped to about 1,500, Glass said.
“That is huge,” he said.
He credits the decrease in part to drug interdictions by law enforcement officers.
“They are putting their lives on the line,” he said of the drug seizures. “It doesn’t take much to kill you and they are doing it daily.”
In 2023, Florida launched a grant program for law enforcement agencies, State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication. The grants fund large investigations of fentanyl trafficking, according to the state.
Those investigations have so far resulted in nearly 3,000 arrests, the state said. Cartel-linked operations have been dismantled across the state, DeSantis said.
“Florida proves that states can successfully fight fentanyl and the cartels,” the governor said.
