it's the deadliest drug crisis in american history. opioid addiction. stealing parents from children. >> he was on the bus and he got unconscious. >> how come? >> he was smoking heroin. >> from the shadows. >> she was so good at hiding it. >> killing at least 91 people every day. we're on the front lines of a battle being lost. with the dea s.w.a.t. team raiding a suspected drug trafficking ring. >> this is worth over $1 million. we'll get thousands of individual doses out of this. thousands. >> and e. many s. workers reviving people in the streets. >> is she breathing normally? >> what's behind this growing

epidemic? what can be done to stop it? this special edition of "nightline." one nation overdosed will be right back.

one nation overdosed, continues. >> the word epidemic gets used a lot these days but it may be the case that word is not strong enough to discuss this country's

recent surge in opioid addiction. tonight we team up to show just one week in the life of america's worst drug crisis ever. here's abc's senior justice correspondent, pierre thomas. >> reporter: there's a true epidemic sweeping america. striking without warning. on a public bus outside philadelphia on, a street in detroit. opioids bringing thousands of americans to the brink of death. playing out on social media. people having to be revived. even by their own children. >> dad! >> and the heart breaking results, an innocent little boy dead. >> a 10-year-old boy is being called the youngest victim. >> and little girls like lilliana in new hampshire. >> he was on the bus and he got

unconscious. >> how come? what did he do? >> he was smoking heroin. >> now without a father. at least 91 americans die every day from an opioid overdose. drug overdoses now kill more people than guns or car accidents. >> the opioid crisis is an emergency. >> it is receiving epidemic levels. >> for one week, knight lionel partnered with our affiliates across the country. >> it is an evil beast let out in the country. >> the d.e.a. >> victims have their parents -- >> she was gone. as they struggle to get a handle on the deadliest drug crisis in american history. we begin in phoenix where we're without the d.e.a. and the tempe police. trying to take down an underground network of drug

dealers with ties to the sinaloa cartel. >> how would you describe what they have operating? >> we're the transportation. the money coming back. we've got thousands of affiliates. >> and according to the d.e.a., the cartels now sell their product in almost every state. authorities stay crisis is worsening because americans continue to overuse painkillers with illicit supplies in mexico and china have boosted their supply of fentanyl, a powerful opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin. just a small amount can kill you. >> he's supposed to be making a delivery. >> we've been following him most of the afternoon. waiting for the right time to strike. >> agents quickly am rebehind

one of the suspects. >> we already found a large supply of money. we'll tear down vehicle down. >> you'll watch the rest of the d.e.a. investigation unfold later. but 1,500 miles away in kentucky it is too late for one family. >> 22-year-old jennifer was young and full of life. but like so many young people in america, at some point veronica experimented with pills. unbeknownst to her parents, eventually turned to heroin. >> she was so good at hiding. this is the first time we've heard heroin and veronica's name mentioned. we knew it was pills. >> in the last year of her life, she kind of pulled away. >> like countless others, veronica was in and out of rehab.

>> we thought this was the start of our getting better. her recovery. >> but she checks herself out of rehab for a weekend to see a friend. >> what's your emergency? >> i don't know. i just woke up. >> i got a call around 7:00, 7:15, and all they would tell me was we need to you come to the hospital. i said is she alive? is she okay? is she breathing? ma'am, i'll sorry, we just need you to come here. >> by 2:30 pom day one of our week, veronica is pronounced agreed a heroin overdose. >> she was gone. our daughter, she was gone. >> veronica leaves behind her own 4-year-old daughter raylynn. today it was veronica. her parents warn tomorrow it could be your kid. >> i want to tell her story. if i can save one mother from having to go through this pain of burying your child, i'll do it. >> .with an expert who said,

it's the closest thing he's seen to the loss of free will. because of the chemistry change in the brain. is that true? >> yeah. it's a physical addiction, a psychological addiction. which means people are spending their time constantly thinking about getting the drug. and their body is addicted. if they stop using the drug, they withdraw and feel miserable. >> ohio date two. police officer chris green is trying to prevent that kind of tragedy from happening on his streets. >> we've got a warrant. don't run from me. >> we'll go an entire shift. all we're doing is overdoses. it's devastating on the community. >> it crystallize in the these photos. taken in officer green's town last year. the driver and passenger overdosed while the passenger's 4-year-old grandson watches from the back seat. ohio has been one of the hardest hit states in this epidemic. eae

three he states meet has become a hub where drugs flow in and out freely. during seven days of our investigation, at least 605 people in ohio ended up in the e.r. as a result of suspected overdose opioids. >> i used to live here. now houses are boarded up. there's no kids. growing up here and seeing what it used to be like, man, it breaks your heart. >> for officer green -- every drug bust is a step in the right direction. >> today special response team is executing a search warrant on a house suspected of containing drugs. >> what's most disheartening is a small juvenile. he's been exposed to things to kid should. >> you look just like your daddy. >> so children's services will be notified. >> suspected about 20 grams here. street value about $200 a gram.

>> officers need to take extra precautions because of the drug's toxicity. for now, police cannot bring charges unless the lab results confirm the make-up of the powder. >> nine times out of ten, individuals will continue to sell even after this drug bust. that whole system takes forever. >> because of the lag, he says nearly every day he has to let people back on the streets who he believes will deal again. >> in the meantime, they'll continue to wreak havoc on these neighborhoods. it's a shame. >> some of the blame lies with doctors. during week we extraed, three doctors stood accused of illegally prescribing medications to their patients. >> i'll tranlds in physical medicine and rehabilitation. >> according to the indictment, his actions resulted in the overdose deaths of seven of his patients. he's pled not guilty to all charges. his lawyers said in part, you can't blame the doctor if people are misusing their prescriptions.

the allegations of the seven people died happened over the last five years. he's had hundreds if not thousands of patients over that time. with diamond no longer practicing -- >> painful. >> mike is concerned. he's been coming to dr. diamond for prescription painkillers for injuries he said he sustained on the job a decade ago. >> i've been rationing my medicine. >> now he worries where his next refill will come from. >> i have five pain pills left. >> what happens after that? >> i don't know. i'll have to go to the street to get them. >> we've been talking about this for a number of years that you it is getting worse. >> a lot of people who prescribed opioids for surgeries, kidneys, broken bones. now you have all these people he addicted to prescription opioids so there's a culture change toward making sure that we're not prescribing too many

opioids. >> we're back in phoenix with the d.e.a., in this neighborhood about to take down the next leg in a suspected multimillion-dollar ring. police draw their weapons. with the s.w.a.t. team in the way. finding exactly what they're looking for. >> the product, most of which will be inside here, this is going to be heroin. >> it's not sophisticated but extremely successful. >> meanwhile agents across town are in a position to hit the headquarters with this alleged drug trafficking ring. >> they're getting ready to go in. >> the alleged ring operating out of this typical american home in a working class neighborhood, suspected of pushing out 15 pounds of heroin.

>> it is a high risk operation. you never know what's behind the door. >> go around the back. >> when we come back, a manhunt. >> this would be worth over $1 million. >> in florida, the ems rushing to save the life of this young woman. >> is she breathing normally? >> i'll giving her cpr. >> will they be able to save her? does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. in fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. do not use if you are allergic to taltz.

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we're hitting the main houses. >> arizona and day three in our week-long look at the opioid epidemic. they're looking at the multimillion-dollar drug ring. one of the suspects, joel lopez, and others in the house, run. senting agents on a foot chase. neighbors are cleared from the scene. as the chopper arrives to help police find runners. >> the main suspect is in the winds. the suspect runs anyway. >> he's not only scared of us but the cartel he's getting this dope from as well. he owes them the money. >> within seconds, the sound of the chopper faith away. lopez is caught. >> he's the main guy behind the particular cell transporting and trafficking in all this. >> jackpot.

>> we pulled out 15 pounds of heroin. >> the street value? >> over $1 million. >> how many individual doses might they get out of this. >> wow! thousands. >> this is tip of the iceberg according to the d.e.a., this organization is selling 40 to 50 pounds a month, hundreds of thousands of doses. >> so a multimillion-dollar operation out of that little house. >> the d.e.a. believes it is helping to fuel the overdose deaths but there's no way of knowing just how many. that's in part because the most recently confirmed numbers are from 2015 which is why the public health community is asking for a database of real-time tracking. on day five, we're with the e.m.s. in manatee county. >> we're responding to a possible overdose call. >> an area so hard hit by the

opioid epidemic, that now every overdose call gets answered by police, the and the fire department. they said almost half the money they spend on medication this year has gone to narcan used to reduce overdoses. they've already administered 1,222 doses in the first six months of this year. >> the human toll comes with no price tag and does not discriminate. >> heroin epidemic should be viewed as a disease like alcoholism. it is a very tough struggle. >> which is why the manatee county paramedics now follow one the people they've treated. >> what do you think is going to help you be successful this time? >> well, i do stay around a different culture.

it's a lot easier. >> early tuesday morning was the last time i used an >> from opening new rehab centers to a new drug court. >> mental health counseling services -- >> during the week, several governors singned bills. this will help to us save lives. >> back in manatee county -- >> 911. tell me exactly what happened. >> i just came across this girl. she's overdosing. >> is she breathing normally? >> no. >> we arrive to find a young woman, lifeless. >> you said she has a syringe? >> she's given a dose of

narcane. the one thing standing between her and death. and then even though we can't show you, she opens her eyes. >> overdose, okay, you can breathe. has this happened before? we're going to take you to the hospital and get you checked out. okay? do you think you can sit a little bit? >> one, two, three. >> tonight she's been given another chance at life. in kentucky, veronica's parents are saying goodbye to their daughter. but for her parents, there's one silver lining. veronica was an organ donor. she gave three other people a chance tol live. >> there would have been not one

good thing that would have come out of this. it made little sense of a senseless situation. >> during the week we tracked, she was one of 28 overdose victims who also donated their organs, according to the united network for organ showing. it tushls orns out there are no adverse effects. more than 33,000 americans die from overdose every year. we've never seen anything quite like this. i'm pierre thomas. in phoenix, arizona. >> simply extraordinary reporting for pierre thomas. i know you've been covering this story for a long time and there's one aspect that has really haunlth you. >> there is a case from last december, a little girl 5 months old who died in her crib because both her parents overdosed and they weren't able to take care of her and she died.

if that doesn't bring home how serious and lethal this ongoing epidemic crisis is, i don't know what does. >> and your reporting helps wake even more people up. thank you very much. pierre thomas. we'll be right back. >> this special edition of "nightline" is brought to you by geico. , long time. reminds me of how geico has been saving people money for over 75 years. hey, big guy! come on in! let me guess your weight! win a prize! sure, why not. 12 ounces! sorry, mate. four ounces. i've been taking the stairs lately. you win, big guy. sorry, 'scuse me! oh, he looks so much more real on tv. yeah... over 75 years of savings and service. get your rate quote today. this this this is my body of proof. proof of less joint pain and clearer skin.

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our thanks to pierre and our affiliates across the country for tonight's report. for a deep dive into the american opioid crisis, you can visit our "nightlin

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