Berrien County officials tell state committee fentanyl is driving sharp rise in overdose deaths

Sheriff Chuck Hite of Berrien County and Capt. Sean Yek told the Michigan House Committee on Homeland Security and Foreign Influence that fentanyl now accounts for the largest share of major drug seizures in the county and has driven a steep rise in overdose deaths.

The officials testified that law enforcement lab data and local seizure records show fentanyl has overtaken heroin and other opioids in Berrien County. Hite said fentanyl represented roughly 74% of the county’s top seizures and that the county registered more than 60 overdose deaths in its most recent high year; he said the county continued to see similar levels in 2025.

The committee hearing combined enforcement detail with public-health context. Capt. Sean Yek, who oversees the enforcement division’s narcotics work, described how fentanyl now appears in multiple forms — powder, disguised tablets and mixed with stimulants such as methamphetamine — and that mixtures increase the likelihood of fatal overdoses. Yek and Hite also described the emergence of xylazine, a veterinary sedative frequently mixed with fentanyl; they said naloxone (Narcan) reverses opioid effects but does not reverse xylazine.

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