plummeted across three New Orleans-area parishes in recent years, law enforcement officials said Monday as they touted progress by a federally-led task force targeting distributors of the powerful synthetic opioid.

The task force, led by agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration who partnered with sheriff's offices, police departments and prosecutors across the north and south shores, reported as high as a 70% drop in overdose deaths between 2023 and 2025 in St. Tammany Parish. Washington Parish registered a 58.5% reduction over the same period, while Tangipahoa Parish also saw its number of deaths cut in half.

The steep drop in fentanyl deaths in the region mirrors national trends. Overdose deaths dropped nationally , according to the Centers for Disease Control.

In St. Tammany parish, the number of people who died from fentanyl overdoses was 120 just two years ago, and has since dropped to 36. The data for each of the three parishes came from local coroners' offices, officials said.

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Steven L. Hofer, the special agent in charge for the DEA New Orleans Division, talks about their efforts to dramatically reduce fentanyl-related overdose deaths during a press event at their Metairie office on Monday, December 8, 2025. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)

Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's New Orleans Division described the progress as stemming from a three-tiered strategy: a sweeping national effort by federal agents to disrupt cartel-fueled drug trafficking; regional partnerships between the DEA and local agencies; and efforts by local prosecutors to enforce stiffer penalties for those caught distributing fentanyl.ย 

That approach has turned the tide on a story that "for too long has been one of overwhelming loss," Hofer said in a news conference Monday.

Federal officials have connected the progress to regional success in dismantling drug cartels. last month that a DEA-led probe has yielded seizures of $10 million in assets and 20 kilos of fentanyl, plus other drugs, since this January.

On Monday, Hofer declined to comment further on that probe's progress. But he said that both the percentage of pills containing lethal quantities of fentanyl and the purity of the drugs seized by law enforcement have decreased over the same period that overdose deaths have fallen.

Diminished overdoses locally are also likely part of a broader, .

Public health and addiction experts have linked a nationwide drop in drug overdose deaths to many potential factors, including the widespread public health response of the COVID-19 pandemic and signs that the ingredients in street fentanyl have weakened, along with law enforcement efforts. Theyโ€™ve also cited increased which can reverse opioid overdose effects and became available over-the-counter in 2023.

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Jay Platt, center, whose son, Nicholas Platt died in January 2024 from a fentanyl-related overdose, gets a hug from Hammond Police Chief Edwin Bergeron Jr., right, after Platt talked about how much he misses his son during a press conference at the DEA's New Orleans Division office in Metairie on Monday, December 8, 2025. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)

Fentanyl had ravaged communities across ถถา๕h for several years leading up to time frame in which officials on Monday noted reduced overdose deaths, particularly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

From New Orleans to Shreveport, communities have grappled with widespread loss inflicted by the potent synthetic opioid. The losses have had ripple effects, with increased numbers of children being born with opioid dependence and overdose becoming the and postpartum women in the state.

ถถา๕h state lawmakers have responded to the epidemic by passing punitive new laws, including one that made dealing fentanyl punishable by up to life in prison โ€”ย a push thatย .

At the DEA's field office Monday in Metairie, prosecutors from ถถา๕h's 21st and 22nd Judicial District described how they have sought to punish people who deal fentanyl that leads to fatal overdoses with even an even tougher charge: second-degree murder.

"We have about a dozen individuals pending trial right now in St. Tammany for murder charges, because you know what you're doing," said 22nd Judicial District Attorney Collin Sims.

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Northshore District Attorney Collin Sims, center, joins DEA and other local law enforcement officials as they talk about their efforts to reduce fentanyl-related deaths during a press conference at the DEA's New Orleans Division office in Metairie on Monday, December 8, 2025. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)

Another task force member, Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker, described working with prosecutors on "alternative measures" to stem overdose deaths. For instance, Sticker said, his office has worked to allow some Tangipahoa Parish Prison detainees struggling with substance use to bond out of jail on the condition they check in to rehab facilities.

Hofer noted how fentanyl, which is synthetically produced in labs, presents a threat to drug agents distinct from other narcotics that rely on a growing season, such as heroin.

For Hammond couple Monique and Chris Massi, its threat struck home this fall. Their son, Jacob Massi, an avid fisherman and New Orleans Saints fan, died of an overdose on Oct. 5. He was 28.

"He had a future, and that was stolen from him," Monique Massi said.

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Jay Platt, back left, whose son, Nicholas Platt died in January 2024 from a fentanyl-related overdose, consoles Monique Massi, right, and her husband, Chris, both the parents of Jacob Massi who also died in October 2025 from a fentanyl-related overdose, as they listen to DEA and local law enforcement officials talk about their efforts to reduce these types of deaths during a press conference at the DEA's New Orleans Division office in Metairie on Monday, December 8, 2025. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
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Monique Massi, center, holds tightly a portrait of her son, Jacob, who died in October 2025 from a fentanyl-related overdose, as she and her husband, Chris, left, and Jay Platt, back left, whose son, Nicholas, also died from an accidental overdose in January 2024, as they listen to DEA and local law enforcement officials talk about their efforts to reduce these types of deaths during a press conference at the DEA's New Orleans Division office in Metairie on Monday, December 8, 2025. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)

James Finn covers federal law enforcement and immigration for The Times-Picayune | . Email him atย jfinn@theadvocate.comย or contact him on Signal at jamesfinn.82.

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