The bipartisan bill would fund more than 100 state-of-the-art testing equipment 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.
10 Investigates profiled the multi-energy portal machine in operation on the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas, as part of our Overdosed series. That was a year and a half ago. At the time, Customs and Border Protection only had one machine, which works like the scanners that look inside luggage at airports. CBP is working to install more machines to cover all lanes entering the U.S.
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Our partners at KPNX visited the border city of Nogales, Arizona, where installation of scanners has been stalled due to a lack of funding. The new funding will allow 50 companies to operate. President Biden has asked Congress to fund more than 100 state-of-the-art testing machines to help detect and interdict fentanyl on the Southwest border.
Dr Rahul Gupta, director of the National Narcotics Control Policy Bureau, said that while only 5% of cars are currently scanned, these new machines, when rolled out across the board, would make a huge dent in the fentanyl problem.
“We are strategically placing them in locations to detect and disrupt human trafficking in the greatest way possible, and it is achievable. This is how we do it. , putting it in place at legal ports of entry. This is why, as you know, it's going to take time. This is why the president wants Congress to act now. ” said Dr. Gupta.
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He added that it could take six to 24 months to prepare the facilities, which are part of a 1P2 billion funding request to the Department of Homeland Security.
“At the end of the day, this is about protecting American lives and saving American lives from deadly drugs coming through our border.”
You can see all of our coverage, from the border to the country, in our series “Overdosed.”