More Fentanyl Than Heroin Stopped at Border for First Time Ever as US Overdoses Rage; WATCH: Drone Captures Migrants Carrying Drugs Across Border into Texas

More fentanyl than heroin stopped at border for first time ever as US overdoses rage

For the first time in America’s history, federal law enforcement stationed at the borders intercepted more smuggled fentanyl than heroin over the last year.

Not only were fentanyl seizures at the highest level ever recorded, but fentanyl overdoses within the United States also hit new highs, indicating the success that transnational criminal organizations had in pushing their deadly products to the public. A DEA investigation this fall found a direct link between criminal drug organizations in Mexico and fentanyl-related overdose deaths.

But drug users are not necessarily choosing to consume fentanyl, which is half the problem for U.S. government efforts to stop this third iteration of the opioid crisis. Street drugs are being laced with fentanyl, making all types of illicit drugs unsafe.

“Everything is potentially deadly right now, and people need to be aware,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told ABC’s This Week in a recent interview.

Seizures surge

The emergence of fentanyl began nearly a decade ago. U.S. Customs and Border Protection , the federal agency responsible for safeguarding the country’s borders, initially reported seizing fentanyl in 2013, when just 2 pounds were found. In that time, suppliers have surged enormous amounts into the country. While federal agencies are making record-high seizures, exorbitant amounts are making it past them, as evidenced by the rise in fentanyl-caused overdose deaths.

The 11,200 pounds of fentanyl seized by CBP at international mail inspection facilities, sea, land, and air ports of entry, and by smugglers trying to sneak it across between the ports of entry was double last year’s fentanyl seizures. That same year, 5,400 pounds of heroin were seized, according to CBP data for fiscal year 2021, which ran from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30. —>READ MORE HERE

WATCH: Drone Captures Migrants Carrying Drugs Across Border into Texas:

Drone video captured the images of a group of six migrants illegally crossing the border from Mexico into the Laredo Sector. Agents found them carrying large bundles of marijuana.

Laredo Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Carl E. Landrum tweeted a video from a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS) showing a group of six people crossing the border from Tamaulipas, Mexico, into Texas. When agents responded to the area, Landrum said they found 300 pounds of smuggled marijuana.

Laredo West Station agents operating a SUAS spotted 6 suspected non-citizens attempting to illegally enter the US carrying suspected narcotics. #USBP agents responded to the incursion, and through coordination with the SUAS operator, 300lbs of marijuana was seized. #HonorFirst pic.twitter.com/PZFR9VbMum

— Acting Chief Patrol Agent Carl E. Landrum (@USBPChiefLRT) December 27, 2021

—>READ MORE HERE

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