Has President Donald Trump’s obsession with border security done anything to scare or stop drug traffickers? According to recent statistics: Drug seizures swell under President Trump.
The increased number of drugs crossing the border illustrates that Trump’s rhetoric and actions have done nothing to deter drug traffickers. To top it all off, the drugs making their way over the border are contributing to the opioid crisis, which Trump declared to be a national health emergency.
Drug Seizures
The most recent drug seizure statistics reveal that the Custom and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations seized a combined 101,951 pounds of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl this year.
“Since his election, Trump has ramped up detention of undocumented immigrants, made more detention space, demanded a speed-up of deportation cases, declared the opioid crisis a health emergency and had prototypes of a U.S.-Mexico wall built,” Newsweek originally reported.
Fentanyl
The amount of fentanyl confiscated went up 116 percent from last year.
In fact, the Border Protection’s Office got their hands on 440 pounds last year and 951 pounds this year. Fentanyl has only recently become popular in the United States. Prior to 2016, the Customs and Border Protection had no records of seizing the drug. Fentanyl is becoming more popular because dealers use it to lace heroin, making it stronger and more dangerous.
Methamphetamines
The methamphetamine seizures also went up by 17 percent. That’s 37,700 pounds confiscated last year to 44,000 pounds this year. The number of meth labs in the United States has been dropping. However, the Washington Post reports that 90 percent of meth is cooked in Mexico. This could explain the rise in methamphetamine confiscations.
“The days of large-scale U.S. meth labs are pretty much gone, given how much the Mexicans have taken over production south of the border and distribution into the United States,” Lawrence Payne, a DEA spokesman, told the Washington Post. “Their product is far superior, cheaper and more pure.”
Cocaine
The number of coke confiscations increased the least, rising 7.4 percent from 52,800 to 57,000 pounds. Cocaine hype was dying down for a while, but it appears to be coming back strong.
“There are troubling early signs that cocaine use and availability is on the rise in the United States for the first time in nearly a decade,” an annual international narcotics control strategy report stated.
Final Hit: Drug Seizures Swell Under President Trump
It doesn’t seem like Trump’s tough words against drug traffickers has done much to stop them. Drugs that contribute to the opioid epidemic are being brought into the country in larger quantities. Cannabis has been found to be a healthy alternative to opiates but it remains federally illegal. As a result, drug traffickers continue to thrive off the sale of more harmful illegal substances.
