A 27-year-old man in Greeley, Colorado, will spend a long time in prison after dealing fentanyl, a drug that continues taking American lives.

Andrew Durdy was sentenced to 40 years behind bars at the Colorado Department of Corrections, the District Attorney of Weld County said in a press release Friday.

“In October, the defendant pled guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Possession with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl (DF1), and one count of Possession with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl (DF2),” the release said.

The drug known as fentanyl is described as a synthetic opioid that is much stronger than morphine, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA):

Pharmaceutical fentanyl was developed for pain management treatment of cancer patients, applied in a patch on the skin. Because of its powerful opioid properties, Fentanyl is also diverted for abuse. Fentanyl is added to heroin to increase its potency, or be disguised as highly potent heroin. Many users believe that they are purchasing heroin and actually don’t know that they are purchasing fentanyl – which often results in overdose deaths. Clandestinely-produced fentanyl is primarily manufactured in Mexico.

While the Weld County Drug Task Force was investigating Durdy in 2021, he sold the drug to undercover officers, and investigators also found three of his postal packages from California with additional fentanyl inside.

At the time, officials seized approximately 5,800 fentanyl pills.

At the sentencing hearing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Pirraglia said, “Any one of those pills could have killed someone. Bottom line, he made a profit off destroying other people’s lives, and we won’t tolerate this type of behavior in our community.”

During a recent interview with CBS News, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said fentanyl deaths are a national security crisis. She also voiced concern there will be more of the drug crossing the border if Title 42 is lifted.

Monaco said, “I think it’s a national security issue. I think it’s a public safety issue. I think it’s a public health issue.”

Meanwhile, American life expectancy dropped to a 25-year low in 2021 as more than 100,000 citizens died from drug overdose deaths, per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Breitbart News reported December 22.