Please don’t stop praying about the ongoing opioid crisis! We were shocked by the statistics in this story. Read on to find out about the explosive growth of fentanyl crossing the southern border into the U.S. Then share in the comments–has this crisis touched your family? Let’s pray for one another.

Federal agents in this section of the southern border say they’ve seen a staggering 4,000 percent increase in fentanyl seizures over the last three years.

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Those busts are not at ports of entry, where most smuggled drugs are typically found. The Border Patrol says the rising amount of fentanyl is being found in the desert – transported by increasingly brazen smugglers who are exploiting stretched federal resources.

In 2018, the Border Patrol in the El Paso sector found just one pound of fentanyl outside ports of entry. In 2019, two pounds. In 2020, nine.

During the 2021 fiscal year, agents have found 41 pounds so far – a dramatic rise that experts attribute to the increasing role in drug cartels producing the illicit drug themselves with raw materials from China. The sharp rise from 2018 to 2020 suggests the coronavirus pandemic did not artificially inflate the 2021 numbers.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal, depending on a person’s body size. One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people. A kilogram is roughly 2.2 pounds.

“For the first time, we’re starting to see these tactics where fentanyl is being smuggled between ports of entry,” Chief Border Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez said in an interview. “Cartels are very creative. They find ways to intimidate migrants and find ways to illegally have them transport that narcotic into the United States.”

Sources with the Drug Enforcement Administration tell NBC News that fentanyl is becoming a drug of choice for the cartels because it’s highly profitable, extremely potent and easier to smuggle into the U.S. because of its small size.

Meth seizures away from ports of entry are also up 85 percent so far this fiscal year.

How are you praying for the drug crisis? Let us know in the comments below!

(Excerpt from NBC News. Article written by Gabe Gutierrez and Al Henkel. Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)