11 months ago
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FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE) – Nogales is conscionable one hour southbound of Tucson down Interstate 19 - a borderline municipality that immoderate 20,000 radical telephone home. The roadworthy leads you to a larboard of introduction led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Port Director Michael Humphries.
Humphries and his squad of astir 500 U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers are liable for what moves successful and retired of the port.
"We're bringing successful millions and millions of nutrient a day, produce, food that 20,000 radical aren't going to devour present a day. It's going crossed the U.S. Everything we bash present successful Nogales, Arizona means thing to radical connected the West Coast, East Coast, the breadbasket of America," Humphries said.
Commercial drivers are lined up for arsenic acold arsenic the oculus tin see. Humphries says astir products successful Americans' homes that bash not accidental made successful the U.S. came done a confederate larboard connected 1 of their trucks.
These vehicles are scanned through large X-ray machines. The screening process is akin to the TSA screening process 1 experiences astatine the airport.
Using the latest technology, borderline extortion is looking for thing that does not look right. From October 2023 to May of this year, astir 300,000 commercialized vehicles were inspected astatine this larboard alone.
A akin process plays retired connected the different broadside of this campus where cars transverse the border. Contact is made with the drivers, immoderate vehicles are scanned, and k-9 officers are enactment to enactment to sniff retired amerciable drugs.
Humphries says it is important for radical to cognize the bulk of the people, commercialized and personal, coming done present are good.
"Most folks travel done are coming done for legitimate reasons. We person to find that tiny needle successful a haystack, oregon a needle successful a stack of needles," Humphries said.
Humphries uses social media to dispersed the connection astir the immense magnitude of amerciable drugs that person been confiscated. In aboriginal May of this year, astir 1 cardinal fentanyl pills and astir 5 pounds of fentanyl pulverization were recovered hidden successful doors and level panels.
Another 24 pounds of fentanyl pulverization was recovered by a k-9 squad hidden successful a modified headlight. Over 9 pounds of fentanyl pulverization was discovered hidden wrong a modified tabletop, astir 233,000 fentanyl pills were concealed passim a car, and 700,000 fentanyl pills were recovered successful nutrient cans and cartons.
The smugglers are getting much originative successful their efforts to get fentanyl crossed the border; it is simply a lucrative concern for them and worthy the risk.
"At the border, we don't unfastened the trunk and say, 'Wow! There's a container of fentanyl sitting there.' It's profoundly concealed," Humphries said. "Gas tanks, bumpers, thrust shafts, airbags, airbag compartments, blase departments successful the level wherever you person to instrumentality the conveyance successful reverse and crook the aerial conditioner connected the 3rd mounting and deed the near blinker for a trap doorway to popular unfastened to uncover cocaine, meth, fentanyl pills. Really hard enactment being done present and it's profoundly concealed."
In mid-May, different 265,000 fentanyl pills were discovered shoved wrong this spare tire. Another antheral was recovered with much than 22,000 fentanyl pills strapped to his legs.
The adjacent day, astir 50,000 fentanyl pills were recovered wrong a car battery. The largest caller drawback was connected May 31. More than 3 cardinal fentanyl pills were recovered by officers successful these alloy beams that made up the level of a trailer.
And it is not conscionable fentanyl making its mode north; meth, cocaine, heroin, guns, and ammunition person besides been seized astatine the border.
"We're doing everything we tin with the resources we have. It's up to our legislature radical to get much backing for equipment, personnel, oregon immoderate different things they have," Humphries said.
Pete Flores, acting lawman commissioner of customs and borderline protection, flew successful from Washington D.C. to speech astir the ongoing battle. He says getting fentanyl disconnected the thoroughfare means redeeming lives.
“The world is that 1 pill tin kill," Flores said. "It’s not with the risk.”
At slightest 70% of counterfeit thoroughfare drugs crossed the United States are laced with fentanyl. Most of it crosses the borderline done ports successful Arizona and California.
Mexican cartels power the cause pipeline; they inactive trust connected China and India for their earthy proviso but are increasing blase capable to property their ain fentanyl pills.
"All counterfeit right? Counterfeit to lucifer oxycodone pills. The M30's it's kinda what that manufacturing looks similar from a counterfeit perspective.
"So each 1 of these pills could perchance mean a decease connected the thoroughfare by themselves. So arsenic we speech astir our enforcement and what we're doing we speech astir personnel, we speech astir technology, we speech astir information collection, we speech astir our quality to usage multi-layer enforcement strategies to guarantee that we don't person immoderate 1 azygous constituent of failure," Flores said.
However; Flores says no substance what is being taken disconnected the streets erstwhile it comes to our children acquisition is key.
"We person a batch of children retired determination who are perchance being exposed to pills and different items that they person nary thought could incorporate fentanyl," Flores said "We can't curb that by seizing it astatine the border. That is 1 portion of the solution, the different portion of the solution is education. Parents being involved, knowing the threat, and educating their children connected the imaginable menace that this is to them."
