U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized enough fentanyl in January alone to kill 60 million Americans despite a decrease in overall encounters.
Statistics from CBP’s January report were announced in their Monthly Operational Update press release. The statics indicate a decrease in encounters with illegal immigrants following the new border measures implemented on Jan. 5. However, border agents have still encountered massive amounts of illegal drugs trafficked from Mexico.
“In the month of January alone, agents seized 55 firearms [and] over 6,800 lbs of narcotics, which included enough fentanyl to kill over 60 million people,” U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said, recapping his agency’s successes.
In January 2023, U.S. Border Patrol encountered 128,410 people who entered the nation between Ports of Entry on the southwest border, a 42 percent decrease from 221,675 in December 2022. This is the lowest month for Border Patrol interactions since February 2021.
The overall number of CBP interactions in January 2023 was 156,274, a decrease of approximately 40 percent from 251,978 in December 2022. This number includes Border Patrol interactions, noncitizens processed at Ports of Entry, and persons who requested an exemption to Title 42 based on particular vulnerabilities and arranged an appointment to present in advance using the CBP One Application.
“The January monthly operational update clearly illustrates that new border enforcement measures are working, with the lowest level of Border Patrol encounters between Ports of Entry since February of 2021,” said CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller, according to the agency’s press release. “Those trends have continued into February, with average encounters of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans plummeting.”
Fentanyl is mostly manufactured in Mexico using precursor chemicals from China, and trafficked across the border. It is primarily apprehended at ports of entry by CBP’s Office of Field Operations when smugglers attempt to carry it into the nation in their cars, and is occasionally halted in the field by Border Patrol officers.
President Joe Biden referenced the fentanyl crisis during his Feb. 7 State of the Union address. The president said smugglers attempted to bring 23,000 pounds of fentanyl into the United States in “just the last several months.”
The president acknowledged the magnitude of the problem and said, “America’s border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts.”
“If you won’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border,” Biden said. “And a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farm workers, and essential workers.”
Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’s request for comment.