Investigators seize enough fentanyl to kill 14 million people in massive drug bust

[Doc7505]

Investigators seize enough fentanyl to kill 14 million people in massive drug bust​

Fentanyl drug bust: Investigators seize enough fentanyl to kill 14 million people - CBS News
August 30, 2019 | no byline
Law enforcement officers in Virginia have seized enough fentanyl to kill 14 million people, busting a massive three-state drug ring as part of what they called "Operation Cookout." Thirty-five suspects were arrested, and four others are on the run. "This opioid crisis is not an issue that is happening someplace else, or to someone else. It's happening right here in Norfolk," said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. In total, authorities seized over 30 kilograms of fentanyl, 30 kilograms of heroin, five kilograms of cocaine and over $700,000. It's the largest drug takedown in Virginia in 15 years. They also seized roughly 24 firearms, including an AK-47. "We're not talking about $500 and $600 deals, we're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars," Terwilliger said. "You know, $20,000 in the trunk of somebody's car in a gym bag, you know, behind a local restaurant." Terwilliger said the bust spanned three states and that one of the 39 people charged ordered fentanyl from Shanghai and had it delivered to Virginia through the mail.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard announced Thursday that the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward has seized about 2,800 pounds of cocaine during their first drug patrol in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The cocaine was worth an estimated $38.5 million... Terwilliger said that most fentanyl comes from Chinese labs. There's been an increased effort to hold China accountable for drugs like fentanyl that are manufactured there and smuggled to the U.S. A bipartisan bill in the Senate would sanction Chinese labs and traffickers that export the drug.

Comment:
Perhaps President Trump will use this opportunity to search all packages and shipping containers coming from China.
We will fix the drug problem when president Xi picks up his phone and tells the drug traders to stop shipping to the US. He may be more motivated to do that if not only does he have to pay tariffs, but the containers carrying Chinese goods pile up in port waiting for our noble but understaffed customs officials to search each container, and each package from UPS, Fedex, and USPS for drugs.

THE FENTANYL FAILURE
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...?noredirect=on
In the summer of 2016, a few months after the fentanyl letter, the Obama administration declared the Zika virus to be a public health emergency and had already requested $1.9 billion from Congress ... Despite mounting deaths and warnings, the Obama administration did not take extraordinary measures to confront an extraordinary crisis, experts say. In May 2016, a group of national health experts issued an urgent plea in a private letter to high-level officials in the Obama administration. Thousands of people were dying from overdoses of fentanyl — the deadliest drug to ever hit U.S. streets — and the administration needed to take immediate action. The epidemic had been escalating for three years.

************​

How Dems Are Hindering Trump's Effort to Nip the Cause of the Opioid Crisis in the Bud
How Dems Are Hindering Trump's Effort to Nip the Cause of the Opioid Crisis in the Bud - Sputnik International...
Although the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention's preliminary data has recently indicated a 5-percent drop in drug overdose deaths (68,000 in 2018 versus over 72,000 in 2017) involving both prescription and illicit drugs, it is far too early say when the epidemic will be tackled. How Synthetic Opioid Fentanyl Finding Its Way Into US. Having called the opioid epidemic a public health emergency in 2017, the US is taking steps to eradicate the problem, which has seemingly spiraled out of control. However, the initiatives proposed by the Trump administration are apparently getting swamped. "The problem is not pharmacies, it is not doctors and it is not legal drugs", says Arizona Republican Congressman Paul Gosar. ""The deaths and overdoses are due to illegal drugs coming from Mexico. We have to secure the border now to stop these drugs and stop the carnage".
It appears that US laws do not make it easier for law enforcement agencies to tackle the problem: according to the Centre for Immigration Studies (CIS), the Democratic-backed "sanctuary cities" – cities which adopt certain policies to shelter illegal immigrants – "deliberately limit, block, or prohibit communication and cooperation with federal immigration agencies" complicating the federal agencies' efforts to expose and detain drug smugglers.