On Tuesday, DHS said that it had launched “Operation Blue Lotus,” mobilising hundreds of U.S. officers and police to disrupt fentanyl smuggling across the southern border.
Officials have stated that the campaign will utilise new scanning technology, increased drug-sniffing dogs, and other detecting capabilities to increase interdiction efforts and construct criminal cases.
More than 90% of U.S. fentanyl discoveries all along southern border since the beginning of the 2023 financial year on October 1 have happened through land border crossings, thus here is where the bulk of the effort will be concentrated.
“Operation Blue Lotus” Is An Initiative By The Department Of Homeland Security
At the Mariposa entry point in Nogales, Arizona, which has eclipsed San Diego as the biggest U.S. route for fentanyl trafficking this year, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas unveiled the initiative.
Drug traffickers conceal blister packs of extraordinarily lethal fentanyl tablets in the trunks of cars, in the crates of fresh fruit, or by duct-taping them to the torsos of those on public transportation.
Authorities in the United States are investing several hundred million dollars into installing sophisticated new scanning machines throughout the southern border, particularly two in Nogales.
These devices will boost the number of freight vehicles that can be screened by a factor of ten. In spite of this, fentanyl continues to elude detection. Easy to conceal because to its small size, traffickers can still generate a profit off of it despite the loss of some loads due to seizures.
According to the most recent figures from the Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention, and over 107,000 Americans died from opioid misuse in 2021, a record, and fentanyl was responsible for two-thirds of those deaths.
Republican detractors of President Biden attribute the current problem to his border policies, claiming that the United States government is preoccupied with dealing with a historic influx of migrants rather than cracking down on the illegal entry of drugs.
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Significant Determinants Of This Result
Officials from the Biden administration have claimed that their operations against fentanyl traffickers had been the most successful disruption campaign in U.S. history, according to a slew of recent arrests and a record number of seized drugs.
DHS officials reported that between its March 13 inception and March 19 conclusion, Operation Blue Lotus had resulted in 18 arrests as well as the seizure of over 900 pounds illicit fentanyl, over 700 pounds of crystal meth, and over 100 pounds of cocaine.
Upwards of 14,000 pounds of unlawful fentanyl were seized by U.S. police last year along the southwest border; this year’s seizure totals are on track to considerably surpass that amount.
Data from U.S. Customs & Border Protection show that more than half of the fentanyl intercepted at the southern U.S. border is processed via the entry points in southern Arizona.
DHS authorities have stated their want to increase arrests and prosecutions in an effort to break up the broader criminal networks responsible for the unlawful production and distribution of fentanyl across the country.
The synthesized opioid is widely available on U.S. streets, typically in the form of bright blue tablets sold for a few dollars each.
M-30s, also called “blues,” are knockoffs of legitimate 30-milligram oxycodone tablets created by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceutical, one of the oldest pharmaceutical companies in the United States.
The Drug Trade and the Jalisco Latest Generation Cartels, two of Mexico’s most formidable crime syndicates, control the majority of the country’s illicit fentanyl trade, based on the Drug Enforcement Agency.
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The Primary Means Of Command
For the past few days, Michael Humphries, the head of CBP at the Nogales entry point, has been tweeting photographs of massive fentanyl busts, including two shipments on Saturday and Friday totaling 2.5 million tablets.
“CBP is on the forefront of combating fentanyl and other street drugs that are predominantly smuggled via Ports of Entry,” said CBP deputy commissioner Troy Davis in a release.
In addition to making the detection of cross-border smuggling a major priority, “our devoted employees are already capturing record volumes of fentanyl.”
Biden promised to tackle fentanyl “with more drug detection devices” in his State of the Union speech last month, and the White House’s proposed budget for 2024 contains $305 million for more scanners to do just that.
“Non-intrusive inspection” (NII) technology uses X-rays of varied intensities to swiftly scan passenger and commercial vehicles for irregularities that could be drug cargoes.
The United States government claims that the tablets are manufactured in underground labs in Mexico using chemicals sourced primarily from China.
In recent days, Mexico Governor Andrés Manuel López Himself has repeatedly claimed that his country is not a manufacturer of fentanyl, but rather a transshipment site.
Individuals from both sides of both the border are sceptical and angry at him because his claims contradict evidence showing cartel chemists are creating the substance.
Many hours were spent last weekend in Mexico City with López Obrador and a group of twelve legislators from both parties discussing the fentanyl crisis and other issues.
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Conclusion
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) reported that López Obrador, often known as AMLO, promised to examine measures to start cracking down on opioid smuggling with Chinese officials.
