Drug seizures surge at the border, authorities report

(NewsNation Now) — Hundreds of thousands of people cross through southern border ports of entry between Mexico and the U.S. every day. But along with people can come drugs.

In the eight ports of entry in South Texas extending from Del Rio to Brownsville, customs and border protection seized $786 million dollars worth of illegal narcotics last fiscal year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports.

The seizures of fentanyl alone saw a 1,066% increase.

“Most of the narcotics want to go to bigger cities — San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, or up north,” Maverick County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Robert De Leon said.

De Leon said what comes through the border in Maverick County — just an hour south of Del Rio — can end up anywhere in the states.

But it’s not just South Texas seeing the surge. This week, border patrol in El Paso stopped 21 pounds of fentanyl worth $950,000, and Tucson border patrol seized 94 pounds worth of meth last week in a single haul.

“We arrest somebody with meth two to three times a day,” as that’s increasingly becoming the drug of choice in the region, De Leon said.

But sometimes, border patrol arrests people more than once. A problem that has intensified is repeat crossers who have been arrested in the U.S., deported, then come back without consequence.

De Leon said Texas DPS and the National Guard have helped, but they need more assistance from the federal government.

“I know it’s going to be hard to stop it,” De Leon said. “But at least slow down the traffic of immigrants and narcotics.”