Author(s) Mark A. Motivans

This report presents data from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) describing the federal criminal justice response to opioids. It focuses on heroin, fentanyl, and other opioids, including how they are classified under the Controlled Substances Act, the number of deaths due to overdose, and the number of persons arrested and sentenced for federal offenses involving these substances. The report uses data from BJS’s Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP). The FJSP includes data received from the DEA, the USSC, and other federal criminal justice agencies.

Highlights:

• From fiscal year (FY) 2020 to FY 2021, the number of drug arrests the DEA made for fentanyl increased by 36% from 2,305 to 3,138.

• In FY 2021, for the first time, the number of drug arrests the DEA made for fentanyl (3,138) surpassed the number of arrests for heroin (2,591).

• Of the 28,224 total drug arrests by the DEA in FY 2021, 3,138 (11%) were for fentanyl, 2,591 (9%) were for heroin, and 676 (2%) were for other opioids.

• DEA arrests for heroin, fentanyl, and other opioids increased from 4,830 in FY 2001 to a peak of 8,258 in 2015 and declined to 6,405 in FY 2021.

• In FY 2021,

  • 97% of persons sentenced for a drug offense involving opioids were sentenced for drug trafficking.

  • most persons sentenced for drug offenses involving heroin (89%) or fentanyl (87%) had a prior criminal history at sentencing

  • persons sentenced for drug offenses involving heroin or fentanyl received a median prison term of 46 months, persons sentenced for oxycodone received a median prison term of 26 months, and persons sentenced for hydrocodone received a median prison term of 24 months.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2024. 25p.