North Charlotte Today

Washington, D.C. - North Carolina Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd have raised serious concerns about the alarming influx of fentanyl into the United States, particularly in communities throughout North Carolina. In a letter addressed to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram, the senators emphasized the urgent need for action to address this grave issue.

The senators pointed out a shocking statistic reported by Axios Raleigh on August 31, 2023. The Raleigh Police Department (RPD) alone seized over 17 kilograms of fentanyl in 2023. To put this into perspective, this amount of fentanyl is enough to potentially kill 8.5 million people, which accounts for a staggering 85% of North Carolina's population. This highlights the severity of the crisis that North Carolina is facing.

"In the past nine years, over 13,000 North Carolinians have died from fentanyl overdoses," wrote Senators Tillis and Budd. They identified multiple factors contributing to the rise in fentanyl-related deaths, including the porous border, drug cartels utilizing social media platforms to sell drugs, and the failure of the Chinese Communist Party to prevent the shipment of fentanyl precursors to these cartels.

The senators also highlighted the role of broken border policies in facilitating the infiltration of drugs into the country. "During fiscal year 2023, over 25,000 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the southern border alone," they stated. This staggering number only accounts for the fentanyl that was successfully intercepted, not taking into consideration the quantity that evaded detection and found its way into communities across North Carolina and the nation.

The impact of this crisis extends to families from all walks of life, with loved ones being lost to fentanyl-related overdoses on a daily basis. Citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the senators noted that there were over 106,000 overdose deaths in the United States, including fentanyl-related deaths, in a 12-month period ending in April 2023.

In their concluding remarks, Senators Tillis and Budd urged the DHS and DEA to utilize all available resources to dismantle drug cartels and put an end to the influx of drugs into the country. They emphasized the urgent need for action to protect the lives of Americans and prevent further devastation caused by fentanyl and other deadly narcotics.

The full letter can be accessed HERE.

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To find out more, go to this link: https://www.tillis.senate.gov/2023/10/tillis-budd-demand-answers-on-flow-of-fentanyl-into-north-carolina-communities