In just one month, US authorities have already seized over 7,000 pounds of fentanyl at the border, enough to kill the US population five times over.
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That’s the observation of an elected Republican after border patrol officials testified before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday.
Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett responded to comments from Tucson Chief Patrol Officer John Modlin, who said more than 700 pounds of fentanyl was intercepted at work in the region alone in 2022.
According to Mr. Modlin, that amount of drugs alone could kill half the population of the United States.
Rep. Tim Burchett countered that statement by noting that more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl have been seized by US authorities since early 2023, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“That’s enough fentanyl to kill every American nearly five times over,” the Republican lawmaker said.
In fact, just 2 milligrams of this drug is enough to kill a person.
According to Tim Burchett, the current situation is a result of the Biden administration’s lax approach to border security.
Several witnesses testified before the House Oversight Committee that since Joe Biden was in office, several migrants arrested transporting drugs felt the border was now “open” and the laws had changed.
However, the US government asserts that such an idea is wrong and that the huge quantities of fentanyl being seized at the border prove that the authorities are doing their job.