U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents discovered large quantities of drugs last Saturday at the Arizona-Mexico border.
Agents at the Arizona Nogales Border Patrol Station, roughly 60 miles south of Tucson, discovered 11.5 pounds of heroin, 89 pounds of methamphetamine, and 320,000 fentanyl pills hidden inside the gas tank and rocker panels of a vehicle attempting to enter the United States from Mexico.
The seizure occurred the same day as another drug bust at the Nogales station, where authorities discovered more than 40 pounds of illegal drugs and 150,000 fentanyl pills hidden inside a vehicle.
“Narcotics interceptions like these are a prime example of CBP’s dedication to our border security mission and our continued effort to keep our streets safe from unlawful activity,” stated CBP port director Gilbert Calderon of the Eagle Pass Port of Entry, commenting on similar seizures conducted in his jurisdiction in Texas.
Agents are seeing increased drug smuggling attempts as the border situation worsens, according to CBP, per Fox News.
In the first six months of 2022, CBP agents seized more than 150 pounds of fentanyl in the Laredo Sector, according to federal government figures, NBC News reported.
Drugs are currently the leading cause of death among American adults under the age of 45, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) believes fentanyl to be the deadliest drug threat facing the country.
Fentanyl, according to DEA administrator Anne Milgram, is highly addictive and found in all 50 states. Drug dealers are increasingly mixing it with other types of drugs — in powder and pill form. It is 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine, and just two milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal for some people, reported The Dallas Express.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of reported drug overdose deaths in Texas and the United States has been steadily increasing since 2015.
At a Houston press conference last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott emphasized his efforts to combat the state’s “growing fentanyl crisis,” reported The Dallas Express.
In the previous year, the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Houston crime lab tested nearly 13,700 pounds of counterfeit drugs and inventoried more than 85,000 seized drugs, including more than 9,700 deadly opioids like fentanyl. About 1,700 fentanyl-related deaths occurred in Texas alone in 2021.