Drug Enforcement Administration Archives

Honduran Nationals Accused of Running Fentanyl Trafficking Rings in Major U.S. Cities

December 31, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

Honduran nationals are running fentanyl trafficking rings in cities across the western part of the U.S., according to Willamette Week.

Law enforcement agencies have been investigating a cartel using “Honduran nationals to distribute bulk amounts of fentanyl…in the western United States,” according to Willamette Week, citing a criminal complaint filed Dec. 12 in U.S. District Court in Portland. The trafficking operations have been identified in Portland, Seattle, Oakland, Denver and Salt Lake City.

Newly Released January 6 Video Recordings Raise Questions as Supreme Court Prepares to Hear Riot Cases

November 20, 2023 Just the News

Capitol Police converse w citizens in the capitol on Jan 6

Newly released footage from the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot is raising new questions about the events that transpired and the subsequent criminal charges as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide whether to hear the first two January 6 appeals.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that he plans to release 44,000 hours of January 6 footage to the general public. The first batch containing about 90 hours of footage was released that day, and the remaining 44,000 hours are expected to be released over the next several months. Additionally, starting Monday, the House Administration Oversight Subcommittee will allow any U.S. citizen to review U.S. Capitol Police video footage from January 6 by scheduling an appointment to view the videos in person.

Mexican Leaders Mount ‘Deception Campaign’ to Deny Fentanyl Involvement as GOP Seeks Cartel Crackdown

March 20, 2023 Admin

Mexico is running a “deception campaign” to deflect blame for America’s fentanyl epidemic as Republican lawmakers ramp up calls to target cartels, former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Operations Division chief Derek Maltz told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Top Mexican officials, including the country’s president Andres Manuel López Obrador, have in recent days attempted to shift the blame for fentanyl production in their country. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported seizing 11,000 pounds of fentanyl between October 2022 and February 2023 at the southern border.

China Using Fentanyl as Weapon in ‘Unrestricted Warfare’ Against US, Former DEA Special Ops Chief Says

January 10, 2023January 9, 2023 Just the News

A former top Drug Enforcement Administration official is warning that China is using the Mexican drug cartels to traffic fentanyl as part of a larger “unrestricted warfare” strategy to kill off America’s next generation and supplant the U.S. as the world’s preeminent power.

Derek Maltz, the agency’s former chief of special operations, told Just the News the Biden administration has strong evidence of how China markets the precursor ingredients for fentanyl to the cartels and where in Mexico the production labs are based. But, he said, the administration is allowing cartels to operate freely across the U.S. southern border to move drugs and earn billions of dollars trafficking humans to create new cash flow for their fentanyl supply networks, a scourge claiming more than 100,000 American lives a year.

Border Agents Stop Driver Attempting to Smuggle More than Enough Fentanyl to Kill the Entire Population of San Diego

June 28, 2022June 27, 2022 Admin

Border Patrol agents in California on Monday seized enough fentanyl to kill over 2 million people. The population of San Diego is an estimated 1.4 million.

Agents in the El Centro border sector searched the vehicle at a highway checkpoint, where they found six black packages wrapped in cellophane hidden inside the car’s dashboard and air vents, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said Wednesday. The male driver, 53, and the female passenger, 27, in the car were both from Mexico and didn’t have the proper documents to be in the U.S.

CBP Officers Seize Enough Fentanyl to Kill over 12 Million People

June 27, 2022June 26, 2022 Admin

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the California-Mexico border recently made a single seizure of fentanyl with the potential to kill over 12 million people.

CBP officers stationed at the Calexico West Port of Entry searched a vehicle on June 6 coming in from Mexico, finding 43 packages of blue pills containing fentanyl hidden in the car’s gas tank, according to a Tuesday press release.

Border Authorities Seize Enough Fentanyl to Kill Millions

June 14, 2022June 13, 2022 Admin

Border authorities in Texas seized 22 pounds of fentanyl worth $339,300 that a smuggler was attempting to drive into the U.S. on Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says that 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be enough to kill a person, 22 pounds is 9,979,032 milligrams. Applying the DEA’s own metrics, this means the latest seizure is enough to kill 4,989,516 people.

CBP’s Air and Marine Operations Interdicted 62 Tons of Drugs in First Three Months of Year

May 16, 2022 The Center Square

Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations interdicted 62 tons (124,000 pounds) of illicit drugs in the first three months of this year, CBP reports, working with international, federal, state and local partners.

“Collaboration keeps us all safer,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said of their efforts. “CBP AMO works with U.S. and international partners to stem the flow of illicit narcotics. Through the end of March, AMO has contributed to the seizure of over 124,000 lbs of narcotics by partner agencies.”

Cartels Selling Fentanyl to Migrants, Locals in Northern Mexico

April 11, 2022April 10, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

As cartels continue to devastate American communities with fentanyl, they’re now finding more customers for the drug in northern Mexico, Noticias Telemundo reported.

Migrants and locals just south of the border, in areas like Tijuana, Mexico, are seeing more users on the streets turning to the drug, the report detailed.

Arizona Seizes Record Amount of Fentanyl, Now Cited as Leading Cause of Death of Young Americans

December 23, 2021 The Center Square

Authorities in Arizona seized $9 million worth of fentanyl pills in the state’s largest bust of the illicit drug – enough, they said, to kill half the population of Arizona.

The bust comes after a nonprofit group cites fentanyl as the leading cause of death among Americans between the age of 18 and 45. Arizona and Texas attorneys general and governors vowed to fight what they called the “lawlessness of the Biden administration,” which they argue is enabling fentanyl to be brought into the U.S. through its open border policies.

U.S. Authorities Seize 1.8 Million Illicit Pills Laced with Fentanyl, Point to Social Media for Rising Drug Traffic

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

U.S. authorities criticized social media for an uptick in drug trafficking following a massive seizure of over a million fentanyl-laced pills and hundreds of drug dealer arrests.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced Monday that it, alongside various law enforcement partners, seized over 1.8 million fake pills laced with fentanyl and arrested over 800 alleged drug dealers over the course of a two-month drug bust beginning in August. Authorities have criticized social media companies that have failed to stop the sale of these illicit drugs on their platforms.

Local Drug Enforcement Administration Chief Says Drug Cartels Are Doing ‘Anything and Everything’ to Smuggle Drugs Across the Southern Border

July 21, 2021July 20, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

Houston Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel Comeaux says that the cartels operating south of the U.S.-Mexico border will continue to do everything in their power to get drugs into American communities, he told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an exclusive interview.

“Look, everyone needs to understand drug cartels are vicious, they’re violent and it’s all about the dollar bill. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2021 or 2020 or 2016, drug cartels are going to get their drugs across our border,” Comeaux said.

“They’re going to do everything and anything they can do to get their drugs across our border and that’s what they’re doing no matter what,” he added.