Federal lawmakers are moving to dismantle the domestic production of counterfeit fentanyl pills by cutting off the specialized machinery that makes them.
Senator Ashley Moody, joined by law enforcement in Miami, announced the introduction of the PRESS Act, a piece of legislation designed to criminalize the intentional importation of pill press machines and the precursor chemicals used by cartels to manufacture illicit drugs.
The bill, which has an identical version introduced in the House by Representative Addison McDowell, targets a tactical shift in cartel operations.
While border security has made smuggling finished products more difficult, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) data shows that cartels are increasingly shipping fentanyl in powder form and using imported tableting machines to press the drugs into pills once they are inside the United States.
READ: Lights Out? Voters Slam AI Data Centers For Surging Electric Bills As Trump Energy Ratings Tank
These machines are often shipped in pieces, disguised as furniture parts or machine spares to bypass customs, then reassembled to churn out up to 15,000 pills per hour.
“To stop the manufacturing of these murder pills, I am sponsoring the PRESS Act,” Senator Moody said during the announcement. “My bill will outlaw the importation of this pharmaceutical equipment by anyone who intends to create counterfeit pills.”
The legislation introduces stiff criminal penalties for those caught moving this equipment. Violators could face up to eight years in prison for the illicit distribution of tableting machines, gelatin capsules, or die systems. For larger operations involving more than 1,000 kilograms of equipment or precursors, that sentence can jump to 15 years.
The push for this law is deeply personal for some on Capitol Hill. Representative McDowell noted that his own brother was killed by a counterfeit pill likely produced using smuggled precursors.
“It has been my top priority in Congress to combat the fentanyl crisis and make sure our law enforcement has the tools and resources they need to bring this crisis to a halt,” McDowell said.
READ: The Great Retail Pivot: GameStop Launches $55 Billion Unsolicited Bid For eBay
The scale of the issue remains massive. In 2025, the DEA seized over 45 million fentanyl pills and 9,000 pounds of powder—enough to account for roughly 347 million lethal doses. By giving federal prosecutors the specific power to charge foreign entities and domestic smugglers for the tools of the trade, proponents of the PRESS Act hope to stop the pills before they ever reach the street.
The act specifically addresses “unlisted” precursor chemicals, closing loopholes that allowed manufacturers to stay ahead of the law by slightly altering chemical formulas. With the rise of these localized “pill mills,” officials say that controlling the hardware is now just as vital as interdicting the drugs themselves.
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox
