Washington, D.C. — Today, Senators Ted Budd (R-NC) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram to express grave concern about the flow of fentanyl into our country and communities all across North Carolina.
The letter reads, in part:
“In the past nine years, over 13,000 North Carolinians have died from fentanyl overdoses. The overdoses are being driven by various factors including the open border, drug cartels using social media apps to sell drugs, and the Chinese Communist Party’s failure to stop fentanyl precursors from being shipped to drug cartels.”
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“Broken border policies are driving cartels to engulf our country with drugs. During fiscal year 2023, over 25,000 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the southern border alone. This number does not include the fentanyl evaded detection and made it into communities across North Carolina and the nation.”
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“Our nation is being poisoned by fentanyl and other deadly narcotics that are pouring in from our open border. Families from all demographics are being impacted and losing loved ones daily. As of April, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the United States had over 106,000 overdose deaths, which included fentanyl-related deaths during a 12-month period. We urge the DHS and DEA to use all the tools at your disposal to dismantle the drug cartels and halt the incursion of drugs flowing into our country.”
Read the full text letter.
Background:
On August 31, 2023, Axios Raleigh reported that Raleigh Police Department (RPD) alone has seized over 17 kilograms of fentanyl in 2023. The amount seized by the RPD is enough to kill 8.5 million people, which is 85% of North Carolina’s population.
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