Op/ed: Stopping Fentanyl at the Border Won’t Work

Illegally manufactured fentanyl smuggled into the U.S. kills tens of thousands of people each year and worsens addictions for many more. Not only those with opioid use disorder suffer, but also their families and communities, in a decades-long crisis that has blighted the country. The demands that we seal the borders against fentanyl are completely understandable. But also completely unrealistic.

Dedicated law enforcement efforts have produced large seizures, like the recent Blue Lotus Operation that confiscated over 900 pounds of drugs containing fentanyl. But traffickers can easily replace what is seized.

It is time to stop setting up law enforcement for failure by asking the impossible and instead embrace its vital role in cutting illicit drug market-related violence, disorder and corruption.

Photographs of fentanyl siezed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are displayed for the media in Nogales, Ariz., in February. Photo by Kitra Cahana for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Published on Tue, Apr 18, 2023 - 9:37AM