Fentanyl is killing fewer people in El Paso County than it was at the peak of the crisis, but no one in law enforcement or public health is treating this as a victory lap. Newly released county data show fentanyl-involved deaths falling for the second year in a row, even as overall overdose fatalities stay high and the local drug supply keeps shifting underfoot.
Federal and county leaders are cautiously cheering the trend while warning residents not to let their guard down. "Every death that doesn't happen because of fentanyl is great news," DEA El Paso officials told reporters, and El Paso County Sheriff's commander Jerome Washington credited enforcement, education, and naloxone access for the decline, as reported by El Paso Times.
Numbers and trends
The El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner’s 2025 annual report logged 128 toxicology-related deaths and found fentanyl involved in 46 of them, according to the El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner. That total is down from 48 fentanyl-involved deaths in 2024 and 98 in 2023.
Those 46 deaths in 2025 break down into six cases involving only fentanyl, 37 cases where fentanyl showed up alongside other substances, and three deaths tied to a fentanyl analog, the report shows. The same document notes that cocaine emerged as the most commonly involved drug in 2025, edging out methamphetamine, which had led the prior year.
What the shift means
Public-health experts say this pivot toward stimulants and mixed-drug deaths makes prevention and response more complicated. Naloxone can reverse the effects of opioids like fentanyl, but it does not treat toxicity from stimulants such as cocaine or methamphetamine on its own. For overdoses involving a cocktail of substances, responders may need multiple naloxone doses plus other supportive measures, and the unpredictability of counterfeit pills keeps the danger level high, according to federal guidance from the CDC.
Legal tools and prosecutions
On the criminal justice side, Texas prosecutors now have a tougher legal tool in some fentanyl cases. House Bill 6, passed in 2023, allows a person to be charged with murder if they supply fentanyl that results in a death, a shift local authorities say has already been used in recent prosecutions, as reported by The Texas Tribune.
The DEA’s El Paso Fentanyl Overdose Response Team, known as FORT, also assisted in a landmark state indictment last year, according to the DEA.
Officials' advice and community steps
Local law enforcement and public-health partners are sticking to some very practical talking points: avoid pills that do not come from a pharmacy, learn how to recognize an overdose, carry naloxone, and report suspected trafficking, the sheriff’s office told reporters, as reported by El Paso Times.
Community groups and clinics across the region are offering naloxone distribution and training, and the CDC maintains public resources on overdose response and access to the medication.
For now, officials are treating the decline in fentanyl-involved deaths as a fragile win. With fentanyl still showing up in a wide range of street drugs, they warn that a single bad batch could erase years of progress. Their message is simple: strong enforcement, easy access to naloxone, and steady community outreach remain the best bets for keeping the numbers from spiking again.
