Over 1 million drugs seized at U.S.-Mexico border in one week

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — More than a million drugs have been seized across San Diego County and the U.S.-Mexico border in the span of just one week, according to a release from California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office Tuesday.

Gov. Newsom said from April 15 to 21, more than 1.1 million fentanyl pills and 523 pounds of methamphetamine have been seized by the California National Guard’s Counterdrug Task Force, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The release stated U.S. citizens are primarily responsible for smuggling fentanyl into the country. Data found that U.S. citizens made up 89% of convicted fentanyl drug traffickers in 2022. Moreover, about 99% of consumers of fentanyl are U.S. citizens.

Back in March, Newsom announced CalGuard helped in the seizure of more than a million fentanyl pills in February which included nearly 600,000 pills at the border. Last year, a state record of more than 62,000 pounds of fentanyl were seized which, according to the release, was a 1,066% increase from 2021.

The state of California has invested more than a billion dollars to target drug trafficking and opioid use disorder since 2019, Newsom said.

In the first half of April, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced they seized more than $5 million worth of narcotics.

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