Local News in San Clemente: 800 pounds Fentanyl drugs were found between ports of entry by the Border Patrols in San Clemente, California

San Diego officials have seized 800 pounds of fentanyl between ports of entry, including 232 pounds smuggled in a vehicle during a traffic stop in San Clemente. The drug is 50-100 times stronger than morphine and is often cut with other drugs, meaning that the user doesn’t know they are ingesting it. The Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that the 2.2 pounds represent half a million lethal doses.

Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that has killed tens of thousands of Americans each year. It is 50-100 times stronger than morphine and is often cut with other drugs, meaning users don’t know they are ingesting it. The Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that 2.2 pounds of fentanyl represent half a million lethal doses.

Border Patrol made a fentanyl bust in San Clemente, California, which is made primarily in Mexico and shipped across the land border. Customs and Border Protection has seized at least 12,000 pounds of fentanyl at the ports, leading to a debate over how to handle the crisis. Since more of the substance is being seized, Democrats and the Biden administration have portrayed the rising number of seizures as beneficial.

Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year, and President Joe Biden has called for a major surge to stop its production, sale and trafficking. Republicans have argued that cartels control parts of the border and increased traffic to the border allows greater amounts of the drug to slip past border agents.

Drug cartels use coyote-paid people to overwhelm CBP, causing CBP to thin rural areas to process people, allowing them to pour across the border (Shaw and Melugin, 2023).