'Greed Always Trumped Compliance': DEA Names Guilty Parties In Opioid Crisis

DETROIT (CBS DETROIT) - What's fueling the deadly opioid crisis in America?

According to a stunning report on 60 Minutes Sunday night on CBS--- Congress, lobbyists, and the drug distribution industry deserve much of the blame.

One veteran Detroit D.E.A. agent, Jim Geldoff, says drug distribution companies ship hundreds of millions of pills to rogue pharmacies and sleazy pain clinics providing the "rocket fuel" for the crisis.

"All we were looking for is a good faith effort by these companies to do the right thing," says Geldoff. "And there was no good faith effort. Greed always trumped compliance - it did every time.

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"But don't sit here and tell me, 'well, we're not sure what a suspicious order is.' Really? The pharmacy just bought 50 times the amount than a normal pharmacy purchases."

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the country's opioid epidemic claimed over 33,000 lives in 2015. HHS estimates 12.5 million people misused prescription drugs and over 800,000 used heroin that year.

Researchers say the opioid crisis has claimed 200,000 lives over the last twenty years.