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As Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador heads to the White House next month to meet with President Biden, Republicans are calling for the fight against the influx of fentanyl into the United States at the top of the agenda.
Lopez Obrador said he would skip the Summit earlier this month and instead travel to the White House in July to meet with President Biden.
Republicans believe that fentanyl should be the topic of Biden’s first conversation.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty said, “If you’re considering an agenda that you think fits the meeting, fentanyl would be at the top of the list.” rice field. “Trafficking happens shortly thereafter — border security and national security issues we share with Mexico.”
Mexican drug cartel targeting Montana in the fentanyl trade.Increased deaths from overdose: law enforcement
“That would be the first thing I raise,” Republican Rep. Chiproy added. “And I don’t say much else.” What are you going to do for the United States when it comes to knocking out your knees from under the cartel and stopping the flow of illegal traffic as well as fentanyl? mosquito? People coming and going to the United States, making the cartel bold and allowing fentanyl to be brought in? As a result of what Mexico allows, we have Americans who died directly. [the cartels] things to do. “
Seizures at the southern border of drugs that are 50-100 times more potent than morphine and can be fatal in small doses have surged in recent years. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized £ 10,586 of drugs in 2021. This is up from £ 4,558 seized in 2020 and £ 2,633 seized in 2019.
As of May, CBP had seized more than 7,000 pounds of drug in 2022, suggesting it is on track to exceed the vast numbers last year. The seizure of drugs reflects the success of the agent’s arrest of the drug, but a large number of drugs have overtaken the agent amid a significant surge in border activity since President Biden took office. There is a possibility.
It is unknown how much fentanyl is flowing into the United States, but the number of deaths associated with this drug is increasing. The Drug Enforcement Bureau Earlier this year he warned of a “national surge” in fentanyl-related overdose.
Authorities quoted US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics that overdose of more than 105,000 drugs occurred in the 12 months to October, 66% of which were associated with fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
DEA Warning of “National Spike” in Deaths from High Fentanyl-Related Overdose as Border Crisis Intensifies
“Fentanyl is killing Americans at an unprecedented rate,” DEA administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement.
According to authorities, the drug is often killed by being mixed with another drug without the user’s knowledge, but is now manufactured with precursors from China and then crosses the border primarily with Mexico. Has been brought in.
But so far this year, the talks between President Biden and Mexican leaders do not seem to cover this topic. According to a phone call that supply chains, trade, infrastructure, and tools for managing “regional immigrant surges” are all on the agenda, the pair virtually said in April, but it did happen. did not do it.
The Los Angeles immigration declaration at the Summit of the Americas earlier this month did not directly mention any cartel of drug smuggling.There were no cartel crackdowns or Mexico’s commitment to smuggling fentanyl into the United States in related announced commitments, including numerous US funding and immigration-related commitments.
Fox News Digital contacted the White House about whether this topic would be featured at the July meeting, but did not respond.
“Unless Mexico comes to the table, the United States will not understand that fentanyl will be poured into the country,” John Katko, a ranking member of the House National Security Commission, told Fox News Digital. Said.
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“Currently, China is selling precursor chemicals and pill presses to the Mexican cartel, which makes large quantities of synthetic opioids, making millions of dollars a month,” he said. “That’s why President Biden is calling to deal with this public health emergency when he meets (Lopez Obrador) at the White House next month.
Mr. Katko referred to Mexico’s involvement in the North American drug dialogue conference and called it “an important forum for cooperation and dialogue on how to deal with the mass trafficking of drugs across the Mexican border.”
“I would like to advise President Biden to emphasize how Mexico’s involvement is mutually beneficial to both countries,” he said. “The instability caused by the Mexican cartel on the border will have a long-term and detrimental impact on Mexico’s stability as a country. In addition, Mexico will block the southern border, making it less easy for immigrants. I have to work harder to stop doing it. Traveling in their country and going to the southern border of the United States. “
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who has warned of the effects of fentanyl in Sunshine, also told Fox News Digital that Biden should use the conference to seek help from Lopez Obrador.
“President Biden rarely mentions fentanyl, but it is as bold as the violent drug cartel that his policies are smuggling record amounts of opioids into our country. He must admit his terrible failure to secure the US-Mexico border. At least take this opportunity to dismantle the cartel and kill hundreds of Americans and even children every day. We should seek help from President Obrador by sniffing out his country’s synthetic opioid laboratories. “
Hagerty said Tennessee law enforcement officials said fentanyl-related overdose and mortality were on the rise, and the government blamed the government for ignoring the issue altogether.
“I’m constantly trying to raise it, and I’ve never heard the word fentanyl come from Joe Biden’s mouth. He and the White House are the biggest big deal associated with the collapse of our southern border. I want to ignore one of the disasters, “he said. We call the border situation “the biggest national security crisis we are facing today.”
The Republicans have proposed some steps the United States can take to oppose the cartel. Roy has been asking both the Biden and Trump administrations for years to put the cartel on the list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).
Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert and Texas Rep. Lance Gooden have both submitted bills proclaiming fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.
Roy said designating a cartel as an FTO can achieve multiple goals.
“One is to elevate them in the American consciousness that they are our enemies and need to destroy them,” Roy said. “The two are to give law enforcement officers and governments the tools and power they need to block their finances, and to chase after Americans who are providing them with material support — you are a cartel. If you’re an American citizen helping members, then you need to go to jail — and do what you need to do to knock out their knees from under them. “
Roy said the United States needed to stop “spoiling” Mexico and accused officials of being “numb” with its southern neighbors. His message to Mexico was frank: “Why don’t you collect your s — and stop running your country in the cartel?”
Mexico faces criticism of its policy on cartels and drug smuggling from the United States.Bipartisan earlier this year Commission on the fight against synthetic opioid trafficking The Mexican government’s policy has warned that it has not succeeded in addressing the issue of fentanyl smuggling. Fentanyl trafficking has been shown to be a more beneficial alternative to heroin for Mexican traffickers.
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“The Mexican government has recently” embraced rather than bullets “to manage cross-border criminal groups, partly because of self-preservation and partly because trafficking issues exceed current law enforcement capabilities. We took the approach, “the report said. “But such an approach cannot address the problem of trafficking and will require further efforts.”
However, Hagati, who met with senior officials in the region, told Fox that Mexicans were also dissatisfied with the situation, and the foreign minister told Hagati that the border crisis was weakening Mexico and strengthening the cartel.
“They now have big security issues at their southern border. They have people passing by in caravans. They don’t know who they are,” he said. “Foreign Minister Ebrald has shown me very clearly that this situation has been caused by our White House and is causing major national security issues for them. They hate it. Every day, they are weakening in conditions of their relative ability to deal with cartels. “