Cartels Heeding Administration’s Fentanyl Message

In April, my then-colleague Todd Bensman reported that Mexican drug cartels cum foreign terrorist organizations were heeding the Trump administration’s warnings to stop running fentanyl (a uniquely dangerous synthetic opioid) into the United States. CBP statistics continue to show a decline in the fentanyl being smuggled in at the Southwest border — but perhaps it’s time for the federal government to focus on methamphetamine and cocaine, as well.

Fentanyl

As noted, fentanyl is uniquely deadly — two milligrams (similar to five to seven grains of salt), of the opioid can be lethal, “depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage”.

The toxicity of fentanyl was blamed for an increase in drug fatalities in the United States throughout the pandemic and well into the Biden administration, with nearly 74,000 of the roughly 108,000 overdose deaths in FY 2022 (68.5 percent) traced to it.