Ali Bradley and Tom Palmer
8 hours ago
(new nation) — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched operations to crack down on cartels and detect and seize fentanyl at ports of entry along the Southwest border.
“Operation Blue Lotus will curb the flow of illegal fentanyl smuggled into the United States from Mexico and bring to justice dangerous criminal gangs profiting from the illegal production, distribution and sale of this dangerous substance. A DHS-led, coordinated surge effort for the United States, said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mallorcas.
The agency began operations on March 13, Mayorkas said. According to the DHS release, that has already stopped Over 900 pounds of fentanyl were brought into the country in the first week.
Operation Blue Lotus calls for investing additional personnel, technology and other resources to combat fentanyl smuggling and increasing targeted inspections along the border.
In addition, according to DHS, information obtained through Operation Blue Lotus will enhance the targeting of drug traffickers at the border and continue criminal cases against the criminal gangs behind the networks and the facilitators who bring fentanyl into the country. Designed to help you create.
The DHS said the operation was a coordinated operation in coordination with federal, state, tribal and local partners, but said the initiative had shadowed local law enforcement along the border. Some say
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Danells said it was an insult that the federal government had not communicated about operations that could directly affect his county.
“It’s fine to hold on, but can we do better if we all work together?” said Dunnells. “I got neon lights until we started working together. You are welcome here.”
At least 2,300 pounds of deadly drugs were seized by multiple agencies across the southern border last month. That’s a 64% increase from January.
In the first five months of the current financial year, 78% of last year’s total seizures were produced. That’s almost double the number of seizures from last year.
That’s because law enforcement says they only catch 5% to 10% of the fentanyl that enters the country.
“It would be too simplistic to think that Arizona, California, Texas, etc. were the majority of seizures,” said Dunnells.
While DHS touts the early successes of Operation Blue Lotus, Art del Cueto, vice president of the National Border Security Council, said, “Fentanyl is coming in, so we’re in a position to seize more fentanyl.” It is inevitable,” he said.
The U.S. Border Patrol says no additional agents have been brought in to supplement these programs, leaving the border vulnerable.
“If they’re not hiring more agents, they’re moving them from somewhere else,” Del Cueto said.
However, the program within the agency is expanding.
“They’re going to pay from Peter to Paul, so you leave other gaps,” Del Cueto said. You can see the impact.”
While attention is drawn to drugs being smuggled, border guards say the cartels are constantly aware of changes in personnel.
“If you send agents to other regions, and at the same time they get to know which regions they’re actually hurting, and the cartels, they can easily move around,” Del Cueto said. “So they can say there’s more here. Now let’s move our business to other areas where we can spread our product.”
According to the DHS releaseOperation Blue Lotus involves the deployment of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) personnel at the port of entry alongside U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel.
“If we lose any more federal agents, the only winners will be the crime cartels again,” said Dunnells.
