news

To Marian Martinez

Feb 7, 2023 | 8:34 PM

Fentanyl seized at US borders has killed more than a billion people in just the past three months, a top border official said Tuesday.

This fact came to light when two U.S. Border Patrol chiefs were questioned during congressional hearings on border security.

MP Tim Burchett, citing Customs and Border Patrol figures, said at least £9,400 of the ultra-dangerous synthetic drugs had been blocked from entering the country since October, of which about £7,200 at the southern border. confiscated.

“That’s enough fentanyl to kill every American five times over,” noted a Tennessee Republican.

The US population was recorded at 332 million by the 2021 Census.

Lawmakers’ calculations were based on Drug Enforcement Administration information that just two milligrams of a synthetic opioid—a dose that easily fits in the tip of a pencil—is enough to kill a person.

It is 50 times more deadly than heroin and 100 times more deadly than morphine. Although it is used as a pain reliever in hospitals, it must be handled and administered professionally to prevent overdose.

But because fentanyl is often cut up into pills that look like prescription drugs and marketed as “oxytocin” or “Xanax,” it’s killing people who don’t even know they’re using it.
But in reality, for those who don’t know what they’re taking or how strong it is, it can lead to overdoses and death. was exceeded. official datathe highest ever.

Drug cartels smuggled fentanyl more than other drugs. Fentanyl is cheap to produce and is so concentrated that even small amounts can yield huge profits.

John Modlin, chief patrol agent for the Tucson sector, told elected officials that any cargo brought into the country could very well be deadly.

“Last year we seized about 700 pounds of fentanyl in the Tucson area,” he explained. “Based on the lethality of a single dose of fentanyl, it’s enough to kill everyone in Arizona 21 times, or basically half the population of the United States.”

Ruthless smugglers hide fentanyl in coconuts, disguise it as Lego, or hide it in car or tire cavities to cross borders.One insensitive woman was even accused of hiding it in herself children’s luggage.

“The biggest concern is liquid fentanyl, which is the latest threat we’ve seen,” said Gloria Chavez, head of the Rio Grand Valley sector, describing what her agents are seeing in Texas. Did.

Modlin admitted that despite agents’ best efforts to stop it at the border, fentanyl continues to slip through as it is being found in cities across the country.

In Arizona, the Border Patrol’s inland checkpoint has been closed for months due to lack of personnel. Testing centers are intended to be a second line of defense for catching cross-border drugs and illegal immigration.

“You’re preventing agents from doing their jobs.” Martin Polchas, supervisor of Yuma County, Arizona, told the Post of three roadside checkpoints in his county.

Democratic Rep. Greg Casal of Texas refuted the idea that illegal immigrants who sneak into the country are smuggling drugs, adding that nine out of 10 fentanyl smugglers are Americans.

“The people who are driving drugs across the border are citizens who have passports that allow them to pass through checkpoints,” Casar said. “It is US citizens who are trafficking fentanyl at the border. Those who suffer overdoses and die in our communities are US citizens — so why are we talking about immigration today? “