Omaha DEA has already confiscated 3X more meth than last year

By Pete Cuddihy

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    OMAHA, Neb. (KETV) — The Drug Enforcement Administration says that the amount of methamphetamine seized in Omaha has tripled in the past year.

While they say local production has dropped, the DEA claims the cartels have been pumping it into communities.

In 2024, the DEA of Omaha confiscated 70 pounds of meth total. Just halfway through 2025, that number skyrocketed to over 170 pounds.

Special Agent with Omaha DEA Rafaeli Mattei says methamphetamine in Omaha is nothing new.

Decades ago, it was mainly produced locally, in places like houses and the backs of trucks.

“Back in 2005, there was legislation that took the Sudafed from the counters and put them behind the pharmacies. You had to bring now an ID to get those,” Mattei said.

With local production targeted, cartels saw a golden opportunity.

“They started to produce a lot more meth. They don’t have to contend with those rules or regs down in Mexico. They get precursor chemicals shipped to them directly from China, and they are making meth in super labs that are producing hundreds of pounds at a time,” Mattei said.

Smuggling it throughout the country in any way that they can.

“This is kind of like that movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. We get every single type of conveyance. They’ll put meth in it,” Mattei said.

That makes Omaha a hub due to its proximity to the interstate.

“The way it gets to us here in Nebraska mainly comes across the southwest border, and then it just comes up, you know, I-80, I-29,” Mattei said.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean there is more meth on the streets of Omaha.

“If they, you know, caught a semi going down, it, I-80, as one of those seizures and it was, you know, a pretty big load. Well then, that’s going to make the numbers look off,” said chief clinician officer with CenterPointe Center for Hope, Ryan Carruthers.

He says what is clear is that for years, meth has been a prominent issue, bringing people to seek help.

“Our data shows that year after year after year, that’s what people are seeking out treatment more for, far more than any other illicit drug,” Carruthers said.

To understand what the process of recovery is like, Jessica Thrasher, who has been sober since 2007, spoke about her experience.

“It’s almost like, you know, you’re crawling out of the gutter is really what you’re what you’re doing,” Thrasher said. “I had done it because people told me that I needed to do it. I never did it because I wanted to do it. And so, when I did it for myself, I think that’s really what stuck.”

CenterPointe says that the biggest way to make a change is to let people know that there is hope. Treatment is available and works.

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