“…Consider what it takes to produce heroin — large plots of secure land to grow opium poppies, a labor force for farming and refining, and several months of time. Then you’ve got weather, pests and water supply issues to deal with.
Move the entire process to a lab and it is so much more predictable — and profitable.
With fentanyl, you need about 20 times less product to achieve the same high as heroin.
One kilogram of pure fentanyl from China, costing about $3,300 to $5,000, can be turned into a diluted powder sold on San Diego streets at a $300,000 value, according to the DEA. As it travels farther away from the border, the value skyrockets.
If it is in pill form, 1 kilogram of pure fentanyl can be made into 1 million pills containing 1 milligram of fentanyl each. Sell each pill for $10 to $20 a piece on the street and that is a $10 million to $20 million product.”