Recently, fentanyl has reached a higher seizure rate than heroin by federal law enforcement along the various U.S. borders for the first time in recorded history.
As seen in data reported by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), 11,201 pounds of fentanyl was confiscated across the 2021 fiscal year, which is compared to the smaller 5,400 pounds of heroin. Also reported in the data was a listing of other drugs taken at the border including 319,447 pounds of marijuana, 190,861 pounds of methamphetamine, 97,638 pounds of cocaine, and 10,848 pounds of ketamine.
As of year to date for the fiscal year 2022, there have been 2,158 pounds of fentanyl taken compared to just 277 pounds of heroin.
The total amount of heroin taken at the border has dropped drastically from 2020 where it was 5,763 pounds, and at the same time the amount of fentanyl taken has skyrocketed up from just 4,791 pounds back in 2020.
“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,” stated a report from The Washington Examiner.
Back in December of 2021, an investigation by the DEA took place that identified a “direct link between fentanyl-related overdose deaths and criminal drug networks in Mexico.”
“Mexican criminal drug networks are harnessing the perfect drug trafficking tool: social media applications that are available on every smartphone,” stated Anne Milgram, the DEA Administrator. “They are using these platforms to flood our country with fentanyl. The ease with which drug dealers can operate on social media and other popular smartphone apps is fueling our Nation’s unprecedented overdose epidemic.”
As reported by The Daily Wire, America reached a dangerous milestone from May 2020 to May 2021. Over 100k Americans suffered fatal drug overdoses, which marked the first time the 100k mark has been breached, with a large portion of the increase being from the ever-increasing stream of fentanyl flowing into the country across the borders.
“Fentanyl or other synthetic opioids are involved in 64% of all overdoses, according to the CDC. Over the same period, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized twice as much fentanyl — which is between 80 and 100 times stronger than morphine — than it did last year,” explained the outlet.
A new set of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention seem to indicate that these fentanyl-related deaths across the country have almost doubled in number since early 2019. The CDC data was put together by a secondary group named “Families Against Fentanyl,” and also brought to light the fact that the synthetic opioid has taken the crown as the leading killer of American adults between the ages of 18-45, surpassing even that of suicide, COVID-19, and car accidents.
As seen in a report from Fox News, “Between 2020 and 2021, nearly 79,000 people between 18 and 45 years old — 37,208 in 2020 and 41,587 in 2021 — died of fentanyl overdoses, the data analysis from opioid awareness organization Families Against Fentanyl shows.”
“This is a national emergency. America’s young adults — thousands of unsuspecting Americans — are being poisoned,” stated James Rauh, the founder of Families Against Fentanyl, in an interview with Fox News. “It is widely known that illicit fentanyl is driving the massive spike in drug-related deaths. A new approach to this catastrophe is needed.”
The post Fentanyl Soars Past Heroin As Most Seized Drug Along U.S. Borders For The First Time In History appeared first on Steadfast and Loyal.
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