According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, more illicit fentanyl has been seized by border agents in the 2023 fiscal year than any previous year. This suggests that Mexican drug cartels are still producing fentanyl at a high rate, despite reports that production of the substance has been banned by cartels in certain areas. The increase in seizure raises questions about the effectiveness of these bans.
Let's take a closer look at the recent statistics. According to statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in the 2023 Fiscal Year, which ran from October 2022 to September 2023, agents seized about 26,700 pounds of fentanyl at the U.S.-Mexico border, almost a 90% increase from 14,100 pounds seized in the 2022 Fiscal Year and more than the roughly 10,600 pounds seized in 2021.
Moving on from raw data, let's examine what some other sources say. As stated in a previous story on Federal Newswire, the Sinaloa Cartel reportedly banned fentanyl production in its territory in Mexico. This was ostensibly done to ease the pressure of Mexican and U.S. law enforcement on the cartel, as one of the leaders of Sinaloa’s Los Chapitos faction was arrested and extradited to the U.S. for trial in September. Those who refused to stop producing fentanyl were facing possible death at the hands of the cartel if they didn’t. However, at the time, it was uncertain if this was a position that would last or if the cartel would really follow through with it.
The effectiveness of these bans is challenged when considering recent criminal activities reported. According to Insight Crime, other factions within the Sinaloa Cartel announced their intention to enforce the fentanyl ban around the same time as the Los Chapitos did. In fact, even other cartels like the Tijuana Cartel did the same. However, the amount of seizures along the border and number of synthetic drug labs seized by Mexican law enforcement did not curtail.
While seizures are important, they may not provide a complete picture of fentanyl production. It is important to remember that seizures are not the best metric to gauge how much fentanyl is being produced, just how much enforcement there is, InsightCrime reported. Other metrics that could indicate if the fentanyl supply has been weakened are nearly impossible to tell. For example, if the price of fentanyl has gone up that would indicate there is less of a supply, but the price already varies wildly throughout the country.
Finally, let's take into account how these drug flows impact U.S. communities directly. According to the CDC, there were about 110,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2022, and about 75% of those were due to synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl.
