Michael Gannon, an assistant special agent in charge at the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Indianapolis district office, told Newsmax on Tuesday that arresting more drug dealers has led to a reduction in overdoses.

Overdose deaths in Indianapolis have decreases by almost 28% since 2023, with fentanyl related deaths declining by more than 45%.

“We’ve been working a lot of investigations that have involved fentanyl and especially fentanyl poisonings,” Gannon told “National Report.” “We’ve had about 42 arrests in the last several years. And what we saw in Indianapolis was very high numbers and unacceptable numbers, because I’m the first to say one life lost is one too many.”

Gannon said the DEA formed a partnership with Indianapolis police, the coroner’s office and the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. Gannon said they developed new practices for finding evidence and determining who was responsible.

“We’re seeing significant results,” Gannon said. “Narcan plays an exceptional role as well. The state of Indiana has done very well with making sure that Narcan is readily available.”

Gannon noted the DEA recently arrested a person responsible for four overdoses, two of them fatal.

“They thought they were just getting cocaine, $50 worth of cocaine,” Gannon said. “The person had a significant violent criminal history, and he was sentenced to 51 years by a Marion County judge.”