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(NEW YORK) — The Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday said it has seized more than 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl this year, as the country continues to struggle with an epidemic of drug overdose deaths.

The seizures include 50.6 million pills laced with the ultra-deadly synthetic opioid and 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, the DEA said.

“These seizures – enough deadly doses of fentanyl to kill every American – reflect the DEA’s unwavering commitment to protect Americans and save lives, by tenaciously pursuing those responsible for the trafficking of fentanyl across the United States,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement Friday.

Due to its potency, fentanyl is more easily transported across borders and often laced with drugs used recreationally, including powdered cocaine. Some pills are made to look like prescription drugs including Xanax, Percocet and OxyContin.

Opioid overdose deaths rose sharply among teens during the pandemic, largely driven by fentanyl, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released earlier this year.

The study found that deaths from opioid overdoses in teens ages 14 to 18 increased by 94% between 2019 and 2020, and by an additional 20% between 2020 and 2021.

Researchers found that adolescent fentanyl-related overdose deaths leaped 350% over the study between 2019 and 2020. Overall, fentanyl was associated with 77% of adolescent overdose deaths in 2021.

The seizures announced Tuesday represent just part of the massive flow of deadly illegal drugs flowing into the U.S. Last October, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 1,825.72 pounds of fentanyl at ports of entry along the southern border, putting authorities on track to exceed the 11,904 pounds seized during the entire previous year.

The DEA said two Mexican criminal organizations — the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels — are the primary sources behind fentanyl trafficked into the U.S. Administrator Milgram said defeating the two cartels were the agency’s “top operational priority.”

Using chemicals shipped in from China, the DEA said criminal organizations create fentanyl in undercover factories before shipping pills and powder to the U.S.

ABC News’ Eli Cahan contributed to this report.

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(NORWOOD, Mass.) — One person is dead and another injured due to an ammonia leak at a commercial building in Norwood, Massachusetts, police officials said on Monday.

Norwood’s police and fire departments responded to a 911 call after 11 a.m. local time on Monday over an ammonia leak at a food processing facility.

Norfolk County’s District Attorney’s office, alongside state police detectives, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey and the Fire Marshal’s Hazardous Materials Team, are investigating the incident.

According to the Norwood Police Department, two men working for an outside contractor were near the leak, leading to the incident.

The district attorney’s office identified Richard J. Arguin, 68, of Dighton, as the deceased.

First responders provided aid to the other man and sent him to Massachusetts General Hospital for further treatment.

Ammonia is a chemical that is used in several industries, such as agriculture, manufacturing and food processing.

Ammonia can irritate and burn the skin, mouth, throat, lungs and eyes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. High exposure to the chemical can cause death.

According to a 2021 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 69% of air emission deaths of agricultural workers were due to ammonia.

In Massachusetts, the district attorney investigates all unattended deaths, including industrial accidents, the DA’s office told ABC News.

“The information that we have is that this is an incredibly dangerous situation for the fire, Haz-Mat and police personnel responding,” Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey said in a press release. “We will be proceeding with this investigation as quickly as safety allows.”

The district attorney’s office said that the death seemed accidental and surveillance video showed no foul play, but an investigation is ongoing.

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(NEW YORK) — A man and a woman were killed by a New York City subway Tuesday morning in an incident that doesn’t appear to be a crime, according to the mayor.

The fatalities on the L tracks at 6th Avenue don’t appear to be the result of “a push or shove,” said Mayor Eric Adams, who responded to the scene.

“It appears as though it was not a crime,” the mayor said, adding that a “thorough investigation” will “determine exactly what happened.”

Subway riders should expect “significant delays,” according to the MTA.

This comes just hours after a man, possibly wielding a hammer, broke into a Manhattan subway stop’s dispatch room and hit an MTA worker in the head, according to ABC New York station WABC. The suspect hid under a stopped subway train and was later apprehended, WABC reported.

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(NEW YORK) — A California town is a “total mess” following a 6.4-magnitude earthquake that struck the coast, according to local officials.

There is no power or water in the city of Rio Dell after the earthquake caused a major water main break and shook homes off their foundations, a Humboldt County official said Tuesday morning.

The “notable” 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the northern coast of California early Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Preliminary data placed the center of the quake along the Pacific Coast about 7.5 miles away from Ferndale, California, USGS said. The quake was recorded at about 2:34 a.m. local time.

Multiple people were rescued Tuesday morning after they were trapped in a building that collapsed, Samantha Kargas, public information officer for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, told ABC News.

More than 71,000 customers — about 72% of those in Humboldt County — had lost power as of about 4:45 a.m. local time, according to tracking website PowerOutage.us.

“Power is out across the county,” officials said on Twitter, adding in all-caps: “Do not call 911 unless you are experiencing an immediate emergency.”

The sheriff’s office also said there was “widespread” damage to roads and homes throughout Humboldt County, including the Fernbridge in Ferndale. There were at least two injuries in the county, both from falls, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said.

State Route 211 was closed at Fernbridge after the roadways and a bridge suffered possible seismic damage, according to the California Department of Transportation.

Significant damage was also recorded in Fortuna, where stores were seen with broken windows due to the tremors.

The quake was large enough to trigger a “ShakeAlert” that was sent to cellphones by FEMA’s Wireless Emergency Alert System, officials said.

“We hope everyone is safe and if you felt shaking or got an alert you took a protective action like Drop, Cover, and Hold On,” USGS said.

A tsunami wasn’t expected, according to the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center, which reported the quake at a preliminary magnitude of 6.1.

ABC News’ Izzy Alvarez, Keith Harden, Liz Kreutz, Bonnie McLean and Jennifer Watts contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — As the holiday travel rush begins, a major storm is expected to move from the West Coast to the East Coast, bringing heavy snow, blizzard conditions and damaging winds.

This week’s forecast

On Tuesday morning, the storm is hitting Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, dropping several inches of snow.

By Wednesday afternoon, snow and brutal cold will slam Denver to Minneapolis.

On Thursday, the snow moves into Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago.

Snow totals could top 1 foot in parts of the Midwest.

On Friday, gusty winds will blow all that snow around and may produce blizzard conditions in the Heartland and Chicago. Major airport delays are possible.

Meanwhile, on the East Coast, heavy rain and damaging winds are possible Thursday night into Friday night. Winds gusts could reach 50 to 60 mph from Washington, D.C., to Boston. Major flight delays are possible.

Brutal cold

Behind this winter storm will be brutally cold air.

The temperature in Denver might remain below zero all day on Thursday, making it the coldest day in eight years.

In Montana, actual temperatures on Thursday are expected to be in the minus 40s, with a wind chill — what temperature it feels like — near minus 60 degrees. This could be the coldest air for the region in almost 40 years.

On Friday morning, the wind chill is forecast to plunge to minus 42 degrees in Minneapolis and minus 31 degrees in Chicago and Kansas City. On Christmas morning, the wind chill will be slightly more bearable with forecasts of minus 29 degrees in Minneapolis, minus 16 degrees in Chicago and minus 6 degrees in Kansas City.

This bitter cold moves into Texas, the Gulf Coast and Florida on Friday and will last through Christmas weekend. On Christmas morning the wind chill is forecast to be 24 degrees in Houston, 23 degrees in New Orleans and 32 degrees in Tampa.

In New York City, a brutal wind chill of 5 degrees is forecast for Christmas morning.

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(NEW YORK) — A “notable” 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the northern coast of California early Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.4 – 12km WSW of Ferndale, CA https://t.co/PxdJCcDwFH

— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) December 20, 2022

Preliminary data placed the center of the quake along the Pacific coast about 7.5 miles away from Ferndale, California, USGS said. The quake was recorded at about 2:34 local time.

A tsunami wasn’t expected, according to the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center, which reported the quake at a preliminary magnitude of 6.1.

More than 59,000 customers — about 60% of those in Humboldt County — had lost power as of about 3:30 a.m. local time, according to tracking website PowerOutage.us.

Power is out across the county,” officials said on Twitter, adding in all-caps: “Do not call 911 unless you are experiencing an emergency.”

The quake was large enough to trigger a “ShakeAlert” that was sent to cell phones by FEMA’s Wireless Emergency Alert System, USGS said.

“We hope everyone is safe and if you felt shaking or got an alert you took a protective action like Drop, Cover, and Hold On,” the agency said.

Story developing…

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(NEW YORK) — With a new year comes a host of new laws and regulations in states and cities across the country.

Residents and business leaders will have to abide by some major changes to their current policies following laws passed by state legislatures and ballot measures approved by voters. These laws deal with issues like raising the minimum wage, improving workplace pay transparency and legalizing marijuana.

Here are some of the notable new laws to hit the books next year:

Minimum wage

Twenty-six states will see their minimum wages rise starting Jan. 1.

The new salary floor comes following calls from workers’ rights groups, elected officials and others to increase wages for low-income workers.

Of the states that increased their minimum wages in 2023, Montana is the state with the lowest rate at $9.95 an hour, while Washington state is the highest at $15.74 an hour.

New York City, and its surrounding counties, will have a $15.00 minimum wage, which is 80 cents higher than the new minimum wage for the rest of the state, according to New York’s minimum wage laws.

Pay transparency

Two states are joining Oregon and New York City as locations that will require employees to post information about their salaries to prospective employees starting Jan. 1.

Under California and Washington state’s pay transparency laws, businesses and organizations with more than 15 employees must include a pay scale for any external job postings for non-employee applicants, including postings published by third parties.

The California law also requires employers who have over 100 employees to submit an annual report to the California Civil Rights Department that includes their organization’s pay data, the number of employees by race, ethnicity and sex for 10 specified job categories, and the mean hourly rates and summaries of earnings.

New legalized drug laws

Maryland and Missouri are slated to roll out their rules and regulations for legalized recreational marijuana for adults over 21.

Voters in both states, which currently offer medical marijuana to adults, passed ballot measures in November that approved the change.

As of Jan. 1, 21 states and the District of Columbia offer adult residents legalized recreational and medicinal marijuana.

In 2020, Oregon voters approved a ballot measure that made the state the first in the nation to legalize recreational psychedelic mushrooms, specifically Psilocybin. However, adult residents will only be allowed to use the drug in a supervised, state-approved center.

Starting Jan. 4, 2023, the Oregon Health Authority will begin accepting applications for Psilocybin manufacturers and the agency is expected to begin opening Psilocybin centers for residents later in the year.

Colorado voters also passed a ballot measure in the last election to legalize psychedelic mushrooms. While the substance won’t be available for some time as the state works out the specifics of its regulations, the state will decriminalize those substances by Jan 4. 2023, according to the Colorado Sec. of State’s office.

Criminal justice reform

Several states will implement changes to their criminal justice policies beginning Jan. 1.

Illinois is slated to become the first state in the union to end cash bail. Under the “SAFE-T Act,” courts will use “a more equitable system where pre-trial detention is based on community risk rather than financial means,” according to Gov. JB Pritzker’s office.

California will become the first state to restrict the use of rap lyrics in criminal investigations in 2023. Under the law, a judge will have to determine the admissibility of the lyrics in question as evidence, and whether they are directly linked to an alleged crime.

Several states will have new regulations that will expunge the records of former felons who don’t commit any crimes after they are released from prison.

Under Michigan’s new rules, up to two felony convictions will automatically be expunged 10 years after a person’s sentence is complete if they don’t commit another crime.

There are several exceptions, including felonies that involve sex crimes, and a felony conviction for domestic violence.

California will allow people with violent felony records to petition to have their records sealed if they completed their sentence and have not had a new felony offense in four years.

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(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — Law enforcement officials investigating the disappearance of Madelina Cojocari, an 11-year-old girl who was reported missing on Dec. 15, searched a lake in her North Carolina town on Monday, the FBI and local police said.

“As part of the normal investigative process, we are expanding our search to include Lake Cornelius as a precautionary measure,” the FBI’s Charlotte bureau said on Twitter. “There’s nothing we won’t do to #FindMadalina.”

The @CorneliusPD, #FBI, & @SBI1937 are developing & following many leads to #FindMadalina. As part of the normal investigative process, we are expanding our search to include Lake Cornelius as a precautionary measure. There’s nothing we won’t do to #FindMadalina. pic.twitter.com/xTWKwkDa7v

— FBI Charlotte (@FBICharlotte) December 19, 2022

Cojocari has been missing since Nov. 23, but her disappearance wasn’t reported to her school’s resource officer until Dec. 15, according to the Cornelius Police Department.

The girl’s mother, Diana Cojocari, 37, and stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, 60, were arrested on Saturday on the charge of failure to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement, police said in two statements.

Police said in a statement on Monday that the expansion of their search to the lake was “part of the normal investigative process,” which includes adding search locations outside Cojocari’s home.

“While the public will not see the majority of our investigative work, today you may see our lake patrol units and partners at the Cornelius Fire Department,” the department said on Facebook.

The department also said it was working with the FBI and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to speak with “every person” who may have info about Cojocari’s disappearance.

Police said they’re seeking to make an “exact timeline of when she was last seen.”

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(UVALDE, Texas) — An undercover inspector posing as an intruder was able to access a school cafeteria during a December security audit in Uvalde, Texas, the school district’s superintendent revealed Monday evening.

Student safety wasn’t jeopardized, interim superintendent Gary Patterson told a surprised school board during its meeting. But the news served as a shocking reminder of what occurred at Robb Elementary School on May 24, when a shooter entered through a door that was supposed to be locked and killed 19 students and two teachers.

The auditors tested three schools in Uvalde, one of which was accessed through an exterior door with a faulty latch near the school’s loading dock, Patterson said. The specific school was not identified.

The inspector noticed that the door did not latch closed unless the door was slammed, according to the audit. A delivery was in progress during the audit, and they were able to slip in the faulty door as it was left ajar. The fake intruder made it to the cafeteria, which was empty, before being stopped and questioned by school staff members.

“That is 100% my responsibility to see that that doesn’t happen,” Patterson said. “The delivery of goods and to loading docks was quite frankly something I overlooked, but I won’t overlook it next time.”

The other two schools that were part of the audit passed, with 100% of their exterior doors locked, according to Patterson. The interim superintendent said they plan to have an additional security training day for teachers and staff the day before school restarts in January.

The audit was part of a program started in October by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to randomly test Texas schools’ fortitude against outside threats, something prompted by the Robb shooting. The tests are being conducted statewide by the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University, with hundreds already completed.

In the more than six months since the Uvalde massacre, the school district has spent millions of dollars adding additional security measures. They have spent or plan to spend almost $5 million combined on stronger fencing, auto-locking doors, security cameras and additional patrols.

Patterson also detailed his plans to increase security at Uvalde schools, including rebuilding the school police department. All of the department’s officers were put on suspension in October. Josh Gutierrez was hired in late November as the new school police chief, replacing Pete Arredondo, the chief on the day of the shooting who was fired in August amid criticism of his response during the shooting.

Gutierrez spoke Monday for the first time about his plans to rebuild the force. He told San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT-TV that he’s in the process of vetting officer applicants, conducting interviews and doing deep background checks.

“I have the ability to come out here and help the community heal, help our community heal, and the ability to reestablish a good foundation for our police department,” Gutierrez told KSAT.

Going into this school year, parents expressed concerns over the safety of the Uvalde schools during summer school board meetings. Some families elected to switch to private school, home school or remote learning as an alternative.

At Monday’s meeting, Patterson said that efforts to install new, upgraded doors and security gates have been hampered by supply chain issues and a lack of materials. The high school and junior high school are still waiting to get auto-locking doors. They have already been installed at the elementary schools.

“All the supply chain, equipment shortages, personnel shortages are working against us,” Patterson said. “But we are making good progress.”

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(ROANOKE, Va.) — A bronze statue honoring Henrietta Lacks, the woman whose “immortal” cells have resulted in countless medical breakthroughs, will be built in her birthplace of Roanoke, Virginia.

Artist Bryce Cobbs unveiled a life-sized preliminary drawing of Lacks in a ceremony announcing the statue on Monday.

“The fact that I’m involved in this project means the world,” Cobbs said at a press conference. “I’m humbled to be a part of history in this way and just to be trusted with the task of making sure that I just captured Mrs. Henrietta Lacks the best way I could.”

Sculptor Larry Bechtel said he will reference the drawing in his design, which is set to be unveiled in October 2023.

Roanoke Hidden Histories, an initiative of the Harrison Museum of African American Culture, and Roanoke Vice-Mayor Trish White-Boyd are working to “surface the hidden histories of the African American experience in Roanoke.” They commissioned the project, which recently surpassed its $160,000 goal.

The statue will stand in downtown Roanoke’s Henrietta Lacks Plaza, previously named Lee Plaza after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

A statue of Lee was removed from the site after being toppled over in 2020 in the wake of the Black Live Matter movement following George Floyd’s murder.

Lacks’ grandson, Ron Lacks, said he was excited about the project.

“This is an honor and a privilege to be here in Roanoke with my father, Lawrence Lacks, Henrietta’s oldest and only living child,” he said at the ceremony on Monday. “This historical moment, occasion, has been a long time coming.”

The family was joined by attorney Ben Crump, who said the statue will serve as a reminder that Henrietta Lacks lives on through her legacy and great, though unwitting, contribution to science and medicine.

“I just think it’s so fitting in the state of Virginia … where in the past we commemorated a lot of men with statues that divided us. Now here in Roanoke, Virginia, we will have a statue of a Black woman who brings us all together,” he said.

In 1951, Lacks received treatment for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital, one of the only medical centers accepting Black patients at the time. There, a gynecologist took a sample of her cells, sending it to a lab for research without her knowledge or consent, her family says.

Though Lacks died just months later, her cells, later named “HeLa” cells, were discovered to be remarkably “immortal,” lasting longer than any other samples scientists had seen, even multiplying every 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins.

Scientists say HeLa cells are estimated to have saved millions of lives through medical advancements, including the polio vaccine, coronavirus vaccines, cancer treatments, AIDS treatments, Parkinson’s treatments, and human survival in zero gravity.

Crump is also heading a lawsuit against biotech company Thermo Fisher Scientific filed by Lacks’ family last year that his firm says will “lay the foundation for genetic justice.” Lacks’ family claims the corporation has unjustly made money off Lacks’ cells without permission from the family.

“When you consider issues of genetic justice, reproductive rights, and stem cell research, there are a lot of historical figures who we like to suggest that their contributions changed the world,” Crump said on Monday. “Well, in the case of Henrietta Lacks, we have objective evidence. If I was in the court of law, I would say we have empirical evidence that Henrietta Lacks’ immortal cells literally changed the world.”

Thermo Fisher told ABC News it does not comment on pending litigation.

“Although these were the first cells that could be easily shared and multiplied in a lab setting, Johns Hopkins has never sold or profited from the discovery or distribution of HeLa cells and does not own the rights to the HeLa cell line,” Johns Hopkins said in a statement. “Rather, Johns Hopkins offered HeLa cells freely and widely for scientific research.”

“Having reviewed our interactions with Henrietta Lacks and with the Lacks family over more than 50 years, we found that Johns Hopkins could have – and should have – done more to inform and work with members of Henrietta Lacks’ family out of respect for them, their privacy and their personal interests. Though the collection and use of Henrietta Lacks’ cells in research was an acceptable and legal practice in the 1950s, such a practice would not happen today without the patient’s consent,” the statement said.

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