Texas Sees 800% Increase in Fentanyl Coming Across Border

Texas Governor Greg Abbott cited the state's Department of Public Safety (DPS) seizing 800 percent more fentanyl April over April, once again accusing federal government officials of not doing enough to protect the U.S. border from drug traffickers.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that was originally developed by pharmaceutical companies in order to treat cancer patients, has caused a massive spike in overdose deaths across the country over each of the past three years. And while only two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officials say they seized 2,098 pounds of it at the border in April, a 233 percent increase from the same quarter the year before. This week, Abbott cited statistics that say one pound of fentanyl, or 453,592 milligrams, could kill 226,796 people should it be laced with any narcotic people may be purchased off the streets of America.

Speaking with Fox News Monday, Abbott said the "dramatic increase" in drugs making it across the border into the U.S. should be troubling to all Americans, not just people in states like Texas or Arizona.

The Texas governor used the statistics to once again accuse the Biden administration of capitulating on border security and to take a swipe at northern, Democratic Party–run cities like Chicago and New York.

"The border issue is not on the Rio Grande valley, it goes all the way up to New York, and Minnesota or Chicago," Abbott told Fox's Maria Bartiromo. "And what the border crisis is doing, that Biden has opened up, is it's enriching the cartels which profit off of moving fentanyl and other drugs into the United States."

"The Texas Department of Public Safety patrols the border every single day and they've seen an 800 percent increase in the amount of fentanyl coming across the border. They seized, this year, enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman and child in the state of New York."

Abbott said that fentanyl creates a pervasive threat, particularly to anyone buying pills or drugs off the street, because drug dealers routinely lace narcotics with the lethal substance.

The statistical increase in drug confiscations comes alongside April CBP data showing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement carried out its lowest number of deportations despite illegal border crossings hitting a 20-year high.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has joined the Republican governor in frequent accusations that federal authorities are not doing enough to secure the border. Paxton claimed a legal victory over the Biden administration Thursday after he sued to discontinue a 100-day halt on deportations.

"This is a big win for Texas and the nation," Paxton said. "It sends a clear message to the Biden administration that they will not be able to violate federal immigration law and endanger the lives of Texans. This administration's failed policies have only exacerbated the crisis at our southern border, and further exhausted the regular duties of our law enforcement officers."

Newsweek reached out to Abbott and Texas DPS officials for any additional remarks Tuesday afternoon.