The bipartisan bill would provide funding for more than 100 state-of-the-art testing machines to detect fentanyl at the U.S.-Mexico border.
WASHINGTON, DC — It's supposed to be a high-tech way to monitor fentanyl and other substances coming in across the US-Mexico border. But it's not enough to capture what's coming in. A bipartisan border bill heading to the Senate could change that.
As part of our Overdosed series, 10 Investigates profiled the multi-energy portal machine operating at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas. That was a year and a half ago. At the time, Customs and Border Protection had only one machine, a type of scanner that looked inside luggage at airports. CBP is looking to install more to cover all lanes of traffic entering the United States.
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Our partners at KPNX just visited Nogales, a border town in Arizona where scanner installation has been held up due to a lack of funding. The new funding will enable the installation of 50 scanners. President Biden has requested funding from Congress for more than 100 state-of-the-art testing equipment to detect and stop fentanyl at the Southwest border.
Dr Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said that currently only 5% of cars are scanned, but once these new machines are rolled out comprehensively, they will deal a major blow to the fentanyl problem.
“We are strategically placing them in places that will detect and disrupt human trafficking in the greatest way possible, and it can be done. This is how we're going to do it. The goal is to have it at every port of entry, every legal port of entry. That's why, you know, it's going to take time to get it done. That's why the President wants Congress to act now,” Dr. Gupta said.
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He added that it could take six to 24 months to prepare the facility, which is part of a one-point $2 billion funding request to the Department of Homeland Security.
“Ultimately, this is about protecting American lives and saving American lives from deadly drugs coming through our borders.”
All of our coverage, from the border to the country, can be found in our series Overdosed.
