Valley Congressman introduces bill to combat fentanyl

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Congressman John Duarte of Modesto is taking the section combat against fentanyl successful the Valley to the nationalist stage.

Several instrumentality enforcement leaders, including a Fresno County lieutenant, stood by Duarte arsenic the Republican announced helium is introducing a national measure to bolster backing for areas wherever cause trafficking is frequent.

There are 33 of those areas passim the country.

One of them is close present successful Central California. It covers 15 counties, from Kern County successful the South Valley to Fresno and Merced County successful the North Valley.

"This is simply a precise important nationwide effort to integrate federal, state, and section resources to interdict narcotics," Duarte said.

Under the caller proposal, the national authorities would walk much than 300 cardinal dollars connected those 33 high-intensity cause trafficking areas each twelvemonth done 2030.

"For each dollar spent connected the Central Valley HIDTA, it returns $712 successful thoroughfare worth of drugs seized," Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse said.

The measure would let for much practice betwixt section and national instrumentality enforcement. It could besides delegate national prosecutors to ace down connected fentanyl, which whitethorn pb to stiffer sentences than cases tried nether authorities law.

"When we bash investigate, and we are capable to apprehension and effort and convict these people, they bash important clip successful national penitentiaries," Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp told Action News.

Fentanyl is simply a almighty synthetic painkiller, and its usage is connected the rise.

As Action News reported successful "Killer High," the fentanyl situation has devastated galore section families, including Christie Hoffmann. She mislaid her 21-year-old lad to the drug.

"I recovered Connor lying connected the level of our home," Hoffman said connected Friday. "Sometime during the night, helium had purchased $10 worthy of fentanyl from a trader connected Snapchat and died."

Duarte's connection is invited quality to victims' families, but it inactive has to walk done a divided House and Senate.

The congressman tells Action News helium is hopeful it volition walk with bipartisan enactment successful the coming months.

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