PHOENIX — Fentanyl is flowing through the United States faster than ever before, and Arizona is the main gateway for the powerful opioid.
“Fentanyl is really overrunning Arizona," Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz said. “It is everywhere. It’s in your communities, in your schools, on the streets.”
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Oz runs the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Phoenix Division.
“I have been in law enforcement 28 years. I have never been scared of a drug. This terrifies me," Oz said.
More than half the fentanyl seized in the US is coming through Arizona. Approximately 42 million pills were seized in the state in 2023, according to the DEA.
70% of those pills contained a lethal dose.
“Drug trafficking in the United States is a three trillion-dollar business. So, with a three trillion-dollar motivator, they will find a way to bring it into this country," Oz said.
Oz said her department is going after the source.
The Sinaloa Cartel is manufacturing fentanyl around the clock, and bringing it into the U.S. by any means possible.
“They are bringing it in via air, they’re bringing it in through tunnels, through drones. Every way that you can imagine, but the most common thing that we see always is people," Oz said.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spent millions on X-ray scanners that would help detect fentanyl coming from Mexico.
Right now, those scanners are sitting in storage.
Attorney General Kris Mayes asked Congress to fund the installation of these scanners along the Arizona-Mexico border.
"The DEA is going to participate and be actively involved in the enforcement of fentanyl. We are trying to bring people to justice and will use every tool that’s available to us to do that," Oz said.
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