The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced new efforts to target criminals who are smuggling fentanyl into American communities from across the border. 

The plan, called Operation Plaza Spike, is “designed to disrupt operations in the ‘plazas,’ cartel territories located directly south of the United States that are natural logistical chokepoints within the cartels’ operations.”

Operation Plaza Spike will examine cross-border business entities and trade to minimize illicit transactions. It will also include releasing the identities of known senior ranking cartel personnel, known as the “plaza bosses” to increase pressure.

The first “plaza” being targeted by Operation Plaza Spike will be the Nogales Plaza, which is directly south of the Nogales, Arizona border crossing. The Nogales Plaza boss, Sergio Valenzuela Valenzuela, was previously indicted in 2018 for his involvement as a Sinaloa Cartel Plaza Boss.

“We are entering the next phase in our fight against fentanyl: one where we are going after the plaza bosses, whose organizations are responsible for virtually everything that is smuggled into the United States,” CBP Senior Official Troy Miller said in a press release. “By targeting them for enforcement action, we can directly impact their operations and ability to traffic fentanyl into the United States, which makes its way into communities all across the country.”

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission Is to prevent illegal entry of people and contraband. Agents from this agency patrol nearly 6,000 miles of border between Mexico and Canada, and more than 2,000 miles of coastal waters from Florida to Puerto Rico. Established in 1924, it operates in 328 ports of entry and protects 7,000 miles of land borders and 95,000 miles of maritime borders.