In 2022, it seized 379 million life-threatening doses of fentanyl, “enough to kill every American citizen.”
A group of US senators presented this Wednesday a bipartisan bill aimed at improving the fight against drug trafficking on the border with Mexico, especially that referring to the distribution of fentanyl.
This regulation was already approved in the previous legislature by the Senate, but it was not voted on in the House of Representatives, so in the current legislative cycle, which began this January, the senators put it back on the table for consideration.
The text advocates that the US Customs and Border Agency (CPB) review and update the policies and manuals of the Office of Field Operations as necessary and, at least once every three years, to respond to illegal activities such as drug and people smuggling along the border.
It also establishes that the CPB submit a report summarizing the contemplated changes to the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee, as well as to the Homeland Security committee of the House of Representatives.
“Every life taken by an accidental drug overdose is a preventable tragedy and we must do everything in our power to stop it,” Republican Sen. Rick Scott said in a statement.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced last December that in 2022 it seized 379 million potentially fatal doses of fentanyl, “enough to kill all US citizens.”
“The damage that fentanyl has already caused is irreparable. Overdoses are now the leading cause of death in Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. However, we can act to mitigate the continued devastation it is causing,” the Republican congressman stressed today. Michael Guest, who will defend that legislation as it passes through the House of Representatives.