The 2021 report Opioids and New Psychoactive Substances in Peru, using a quantitative and qualitative analysis, revealed that 70.5% of respondents found it easy or very easy to access substances for abuse in Peru. The recent emergence of fentanyl has raised significant concerns among health and public safety officials. Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid responsible for severe addiction and a high mortality rate in the United States, now poses a similar threat in Peru. Being up to 100 times more potent than morphine, fentanyl has become a leading cause of overdose deaths in North America, and its presence in Peru could signal the start of a comparable crisis.

Preventive strategies against the illegal sale of fentanyl are outlined in the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism: Evaluation Report on Drug Policies (8). The report emphasizes the importance of institutional strengthening, with Priority Action 1.3 recommending that the national drug authorities receive adequate resources to control fentanyl distribution. This is critical, as fentanyl is currently easily accessible in pharmacies, highlighting the need for local and national authorities to have sufficient human resources for effective enforcement. Priority Action 2.2 calls for stakeholder collaboration to update national drug policies based on scientific evidence. Surprisingly, the report notes that scientific experts are not sufficiently involved in shaping national strategies and regulations.

The response to the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism: Evaluation Report on Drug Policies is active because Peru is focusing on institutional strengthening to address the emerging threat of fentanyl through actions such as those led by the National Commission for Development and Life without Drugs (DEVIDA), which collaborates with international organizations such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Anti-Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Section (INL) of the United States government (9); likewise, Peru’s drug regulatory agency called on fentanyl manufacturers and importers in 2025 to prevent its misuse, proposing regulatory changes that include reducing the packaging volume of bottles to facilitate control and traceability (10). Peru has intensified its participation in regional and international cooperation mechanisms, such as the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), in order to share good practices, obtain technical assistance and coordinate multilateral responses to this threat (11).

Law 32250 from January 2025 was released to modify the penal code to strengthen the fight against illicit drug trafficking (12). Exactly, the law adds two specific aspects to fentanyl: aggravated forms, which indicate “a prison sentence of not less than fifteen nor more than twenty-five years, from one hundred eighty to three hundred sixty-five days-fine and disqualification when the drug to be marketed or marketed exceeds…….three milligrams of fentanyl or its analogues” and attenuated forms of production, marketing and possession, which indicate “a prison sentence of not less than three nor more than seven years and from one hundred eighty to three hundred sixty days-fine when the quantity of toxic drug produced, manufactured, extracted, prepared, marketed, delivered to third parties or possessed for illegal uses by the agent does not exceed…….up to one milligram of fentanyl.” Initially, the law only mentioned cocaine base paste or its illicit derivatives, cocaine hydrochloride, opium latex or its derivatives, marijuana or its derivatives, Methylenedioxyamphetamine – MDA, Methylenedioxymethamphetamine – MDMA, Methamphetamine or similar substances.

Also, in March 2025, a mega-operation seized the largest amount of fentanyl in Peru: from state pharmacies to the black market for $600,000. The new regulation could be useful, but it needs to include more technological tools to be effective; in this way, AI algorithms can systematically scan social‐media posts, encrypted messaging‐app groups, and darknet forums to detect keywords, slang, and transactional patterns indicative of fentanyl sales: then, machine‐learning models could analyze national prescription‐dispensation databases to identify outliers—such as unusually high volumes of fentanyl per prescriber or region—and trigger audits or alerts. Additionally, customs and border‐control agencies can deploy AI‐powered imaging systems to inspect shipping parcels and cargo containers, using trained neural networks to recognize packaging anomalies or concealments commonly associated with drug shipments; finally, chatbots hosted on official health‐department websites, social‐media platforms, and popular messaging apps can disseminate interactive, multilingual information on the dangers of opioid use, overdose‐prevention strategies, and where to access treatment services.