WINCHESTER, Va. (DC News Now) — Tuesday was National Fentanyl Awareness Day. Law enforcement in the Shenandoah Valley reminded the public of the dangers of the drug.

A regional task force has seized more than $2 million in illegal narcotics, leading to nearly 200 arrests. The task force has confiscated more than three-dozen firearms over the past year associated with drug trafficking.

Officials say the potentially lethal consequences from fentanyl are too often ignored by those addicted to illegal substances.

“It’s nothing to mess around with,” said Warren Gosnell with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office. “It only takes a small amount for someone to overdose. Even someone using heroin on a regular basis… [who] has built up a certain level of tolerance. That fentanyl will cut right through that tolerance.”

The regional drug task force has also confiscated significant quantities of methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine over the past year.