CBP strategy to combat fentanyl and other synthetic drugs

Across our nation, communities are suffering the scourge of an illicit synthetic opioid epidemic that is challenging law enforcement, healthcare, and social service resources. Fentanyl and other illicit synthetic drugs pose a significant threat to the American populace, Americans are dying every day. Whether finished heroin or increasingly potent synthetics such as fentanyl and its analogues, virtually all these opioids come across our international border, trafficked by transnational criminal organizations. As President Joseph R. Biden and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas have directed, interdiction efforts must be coupled with demand reduction and treatment. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is positioned to lead the federal government's efforts to prevent these poisons from entering our country.