The Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) are at the heart of the fentanyl crisis that has devastated communities across West Virginia according to U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II of the Northern District of West Virginia.

"Fentanyl has caused a tremendous amount of harm to West Virginia, the region, and to the country," Ihlenfeld told Federal Newswire. "Most of the fentanyl comes from Mexico, where it is produced clandestinely with the help of precursor chemicals from China.”

“The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) are responsible for supplying the majority of the drug to the United States, most often through legal ports of entry at the Southwest border. It is then transported to West Virginia in a variety of ways, including via parcels and packages."

The Northern District of West Virginia's strategy against this devastating crisis involves a combination of proactive prosecution and collaborative law enforcement efforts. 

"In most cases, we attempt to get to the source of supply and use sophisticated surveillance techniques to aid our efforts. It is not unusual for our office to indict individuals who have never set foot in West Virginia but who have caused illicit drugs to be distributed here," Ihlenfeld said. 

The office is also actively addressing the surge in serious drug smuggling cases involving undocumented individuals. 

"The U.S. Attorney’s Office pursues all those who cause drugs to be distributed in West Virginia, regardless of immigration status,” he said. "When a target of an investigation is undocumented, we coordinate with Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). We also regularly prosecute those who have illegally reentered the United States and coordinate with ICE in those cases as well."

On the topic of international gang affiliations and their impact on local crime, Ihlenfeld shared insights into the challenges faced by his office. 

"We sometimes will have cases involving individuals affiliated with criminal organizations based in other countries," he explained. "This can make a prosecution more difficult if we must extradite the target. However, if a target is already in the United States, we handle the case as we normally would, and the criminal history of the defendant is considered by the court at the time of sentencing."

Addressing the connection between drug trafficking and human trafficking, Ihlenfeld emphasized a comprehensive approach that involves close coordination with multi-jurisdictional drug task forces. 

"We coordinate with local, state, and federal law enforcement to identify and prosecute cases of human trafficking," he said. "In addition, we conduct trainings for police departments and social service agencies to help raise awareness about the problem and encourage referrals of cases to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Finally, we lead a statewide human trafficking task force that ensures continuity in the handling of these matters."

Looking to the future, Ihlenfeld highlighted the need for additional resources to support these critical efforts. 

"The biggest challenge we’re facing is a significant reduction to our budget that has left us shorthanded and unable to fill vacancies,” he said. “I am hopeful that Congress will address the funding shortfall in the next fiscal year."

Such funding has real results. 

Ihlenfeld pointed to a recent bust as an example.  

"The United States Attorney’s Office prosecutes large numbers of drug offenders, more than any other type of case," Ihlenfeld said. "The office recently indicted 82 people in one case in the dismantling of a Baltimore-based fentanyl trafficking organization led by Gary Brown, Jr. that was the largest supplier of fentanyl to the Eastern Panhandle. The scope of the case was unprecedented and necessary to respond to the threat in the region."

In that instance 17 people pled guilty to drug distribution charges in connection with a Baltimore-based trafficking conspiracy, which involved significant amounts of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties. 

Ihlenfeld announced the plea agreements following a January indictment that targeted Brown and the others.

One of those agencies assisting in the Brown case was the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office. Berkeley County Sheriff Robert Blair recently called for the closure of the nation’s borders, arguing that the Biden Administration's “open borders” policies have fueled increased criminal activity in his community. 

In a previous interview with Federal Newswire, Blair highlighted how fentanyl is trafficked across the border. 

“Most conspiracy cases can be tracked back to a supplier coming from Mexico or somewhere down the southern border,” Blair said. 

He pointed to the recent arrest of MS-13 gang member Elmer Neftali Martinez-Escobar as an example of the problem. 

“If this individual passed through our borders and made it all the way to the Canadian border, there's a tracking history. We have to try to figure out…there are probably other crimes we may be able to connect this individual to,” he said. 

Blair criticized federal policies for inadequately addressing human trafficking and deportation. 

“We can pick somebody up and then the feds aren't going to take them,” he said. “So we deal with the traffic stop. If they're illegal, we're just pretty much going to release them because they're probably not going to come get them.”

As of 2022, West Virginia has the highest overdose death rate in the United States, with a rate of 80.9 deaths per 100,000 people. This rate is nearly over 25% higher than Tennessee, which ranks second nationwide. 

In total, West Virginia experienced 1,335 overdose deaths that year. 

The state's significant struggle with overdose fatalities underscores a critical public health crisis that has its roots in cartel crime.