SAN ANTONIO — With thousands dying from fentanyl, it has truly become an epidemic. Just a small amount can kill someone.

Being on the campus of Texas State University brings back memories for Houston mom Velia Ramos.

“Zachariah was tiny,” Ramos said. “He was like 4 years old when Jacob came here.” 

Zachariah is her youngest son. Since age 18, he’s struggled with addiction. Ramos and her eldest fought to save his life.

“I was constantly checking up on him,” she said. “Because I want to know where my baby was. I want to know he was still alive.” 

After five to six years of attempting to get clean and going into rehab, Ramos says Zach was sober for 16 months.

“I do not believe he wanted to die by taking that heroine,” she said. “He wanted to get high one last time, is probably what he was thinking.”

But on March 19, 2023, Velia got the call. Her 23-year-old was gone.

“I spent all that time raising him, loving him…” Velia said, crying. “And now fentanyl’s taken him.”

Lab tests show that seven out of every 10 pills seized by the DEA contain a lethal dose of fentanyl. 

“One pill can kill,” said Brian Cole, assistant special agent in charge with the Austin DEA. “It’s not a slogan, it’s reality.”

The DEA is hosting these family summits across the country, speaking about the opioid and fentanyl epidemic. Brian Cole, with the Austin DEA office, says fentanyl is everywhere. They’ve found it in pills, cocaine and heroin. 

“From 2021, we seized about 41 to 47,000 pills,” Cole said. “We more than doubled that the following year. And now we’re up to over 100,000 this year.”

In 2022, fentanyl poisoning caused about 44% of the state’s drug-related deaths.

“We don’t want any other family to deal with the loss these families are dealing with today,” Cole said.

This family is still grieving the loss of Zachariah.

“Very hard to come across things that remind you of him,” Ramos said. 

Ramos says Zach, like so many others, was poisoned. She can only hope more is done to help those struggling with addictions. 

“It wants to kill them, and we have to fight to try to save our kids,” she said. “If they’re addicts, don’t give up on them.”