U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody used the Miami Police Department as her backdrop Monday to roll out a federal push aimed at cutting off the machines that crank out counterfeit pills, unveiling what she is calling the "Press Act" alongside local law enforcement. The proposal is billed as a way to create new criminal penalties that hit pill presses and related equipment before tablets - many of which officials say are laced with fentanyl - ever land in neighborhoods. Police and county officials also used the event to warn residents about the potentially lethal gamble of swallowing any pill obtained outside the medical system.
What the Press Act would target
Moody framed the plan as going after the hardware behind fake pills, focusing on the import and distribution of tableting and encapsulating machines that can be used to manufacture counterfeit drugs. The equipment-first strategy mirrors a House proposal known as the PRESS Act (H.R.7184), which would amend the Controlled Substances Act to prohibit the manufacture or distribution of tableting machines, presses, dies and similar components when the person involved intends they will be used to produce illicit controlled substances, according to a January release from Rep. Addison McDowell's office.
Miami rollout and local reaction
Announcing the effort inside Miami Police Department headquarters, Moody urged residents to treat any unprescribed tablet as potentially deadly. "I urge everyone (to) spread the word - do not take anything unless it is prescribed to you by a doctor," she said, according to Local 10. Miami Police Chief Manny Morales told attendees that "you have no idea what folks are putting in those pills," and the Miami-Dade undersheriff added that anyone profiting from the counterfeit trade can expect to be held accountable.
Why authorities are alarmed
Federal numbers help explain the urgency. The DEA's One Pill Can Kill campaign reports that in 2025 agents seized more than 47 million fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills and nearly 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, figures that law enforcement officials say have fueled a surge in deadly overdoses. The agency has repeatedly identified pill presses, dies and molds as core tools used by criminal networks to mass-produce lookalike tablets, according to the DEA. That mix of abundant supply and industrial-scale production capability is a key reason lawmakers and investigators are zeroing in on equipment as a possible choke point.
Legal implications
The House PRESS Act, introduced in January, has attracted support from law-enforcement groups that argue targeting equipment directly would give prosecutors a new way to hit drug supply chains. The bill would expand extraterritorial jurisdiction and add new prohibitions tied to a person's intent to support illicit importation, language backed by organizations such as the Fraternal Order of Police and detailed in the text of H.R.7184 on Congress.gov. How prosecutors might prove intent in specific cases is likely to be a central question if Congress moves the measure forward.
What happens next
Moody said the goal is to give investigators earlier tools to dismantle pill operations, long before overdoses make headlines. Any change at the federal level, however, would still require action by Congress and, potentially, matching legislation in the Senate. The House version of the PRESS Act remains in committee and would need both committee approval and full floor votes before it could become law. In the meantime, local officials who joined Moody at the Miami Police Department continue to urge residents to steer clear of any pill not prescribed by a licensed clinician, a message they reinforced in coverage by Local 10.
