War on Drugs

Popular social media apps conduct fentanyl laced drug deals, recruit for human trafficking

Published

2 months ago

June 10, 2022

The most popular social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok are now “the leading source of illegal drug purchases for teenagers and young adults, according to The New York Times” reports The Foreign Desk News.

The apps are able to effectively target and advertise to youth with anonymity, temporary posts and emojis. In order to evade obvious criminal activity, often emojis are used as representation of the drug or illegal activity.

In addition to deadly drug deals conducted, connections are made to children in the organized crime world. “Reports emerged earlier this year that the cartel is using social media apps to recruit American teens to drive illegal immigrants across the border at a rate of up to $3,000 per person” reports The Foreign Desk.

For example, a crystal ball is used to represent selling meth, and a bus is used for Xanax. Offenders “choose who can see the post, which could be a story on Instagram or Snapchat, and then delete it once they have enough contacts. Sale arrangements are often made off-platform with a secure messaging app and payments can be made through apps like Venmo or Cash App” adds The Foreign Desk.

Fentanyl laced drugs has resulted in teenage deaths almost quadrupling from 253 in 2019 to 884 in 2021, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Fentanyl’s potency is roughly 100 times that of morphine, making only a tiny amount, such as little as two milligrams, to be fatal. “A tiny amount can produce similar effects as the advertised drugs at a much lower cost. So illegal drug makers often sprinkle it into pills which are sold to buyers who only have their dealer’s word on what the pills contain” adds The Foreign Desk.

“Overdose victims often die when they use a drug they thought was Percocet or even Xanax, for example but is actually fentanyl or laced with an indiscriminate amount of fentanyl.”

Fentanyl, like other opioids, causes death by depressing the respiratory drive. Overdose victims can go into respiratory arrest the instant a lethal dose enters their system and die within minutes as they suffocate while unconscious.

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Immigration

3 Drug seizures in under 90 minutes occurred at just one port of entry on Biden’s ‘secure borders’

Published

2 weeks ago

August 3, 2022

Sara Carter Staff

The United States Customs and Border Protection Agency executed “three searches resulting in drug seizures within hours of each other at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, authorities said. In total, more than 89 pounds of methamphetamines and fentanyl were seized by officers from the vehicles” reported San Diego’s Fox 5.

So much for Biden’s “secure border” claims. Not only were the dangerous drugs seized, it is important to note just who they were seized from. The attempted smugglers were “individuals enrolled in the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection” or SENTRI.

“The backbone of our SENTRI program relies on the persons enrolled being Trusted Travelers, so that we can speed inspections in those dedicated lanes,” Mariza Marin, CBP Port Director at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, said in a news release.

“However, we know that those individuals are low risk, and not no risk, so while we speed these travelers along, they are not exempt from inspection.  Seizures like these are one of the reasons that our SENTRI members are always inspected by our officers when entering the United States.”

The drugs seized during the three stops weighed a combined total of 89.73 pounds and have an estimated street value of more than $272,000, CBP said. The drivers were all turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Homeland Security will conduct an investigation.

“CBP would like to remind the public that the ability to use these designated SENTRI lanes is a privilege.  Violations of any kind will lead to expulsion from the program,” Anne Maricich, CBP Acting Director of Field Operations in San Diego, said in the release.

“SENTRI lanes have always been a win-win for us, allowing for lower wait times for frequent border crossers, and more information so our officers can sort traffic and focus more on higher risk inspections.  For the program to be effective though, our officers continue to stay vigilant to spot anyone who might attempt illegal activity, even if they were considered lower risk.”

As for the details of the busts, Fox 5 reports:

All three seizures took place on July 21, with the first search having been conducted just after 6 a.m. on a person using the designated SENTRI lanes, the release stated. During this stop, 51.94 pounds of methamphetamines were discovered inside a spare tire well.

Less than an hour later, another individual using the SENTRI lane was found with 7.63 pounds of powder fentanyl in the undercarriage of his vehicle, according to CBP. The third and final seizure took place not 30 minutes later, just after 7:30 a.m., when officers found 30.16 pounds of methamphetamines concealed in their vehicle’s rear bumper and undercarriage.