Record number of fentanyl seizures reported at Southern border
WASHINGTON (TND) — Fentanyl continues to cross into the United States illegally at alarming rates.
Last week in Robstown, Texas, U.S. Border Patrol agents seized 25 pounds of liquid fentanyl. That’s enough to kill 5.6 million people, according to the chief agent. The bust set a new record.
"The state of the fentanyl situation in the country is a crisis and we need to deal with it as a crisis," said retired Sgt. Betsy Smith, spokeswoman for the National Police Association. "We have tens of thousands of young Americans who are falling victim."
In San Francisco, a toddler nearly died after finding the drug on the playground. In a post on the Nextdoor app, the child’s father posting said the park is right next to a middle school.
In Oregon, a mother was arrested this week after a 19-month-old child overdosed on fentanyl. Another mother was arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana after fentanyl caused her young child's death.
Last Friday, a 10th grader in Maryland died from a fatal dose.
"Teachers and parents are having to carry around cans of Narcan because what's happening is kids are getting ahold of fatal doses of fentanyl thinking that they are taking something else, thinking that it's harmless and it's killing people, especially our young people.
Communities are struggling to find solutions. Some argue that the Biden Administration isn’t doing enough.
"Joe Biden is making a lot of records when it comes to illegal immigration and drugs but all of them are bad," said Lora Ries the director of Border Security and Immigration for The Heritage Foundation. "Parents losing a young child, a teen or a son or daughter in their early 20s to one fentanyl pill."
Our political leaders on all sides need to stop making this a political issue," Smith said. "The problem is our issues at the southern border have become this bizarre political football and the Fentanyl problem is getting lost in the problem."
