A reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation related how cartels take advantage of the border crisis and exacerbate the drug crisis America during a Monday appearance on One America News Network (OANN).
“As the borders continue to stay open, it’s the perfect opportunity for drug cartels to move their product through,” investigative reporter Jennie Taer told host Addison Smith on “In Focus,” discussing an arrest in Tennessee. “And, of course, with drugs like fentanyl, you don’t need that much product to actually addict someone, to get someone hooked on it, or even just kill them, because a lethal dose is just a few milligrams.” (RELATED: In Just One Week, Border Patrol Arrested Over 100 Felons Illegally Crossing The Border)
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“Something to look at is how the border is affecting that,” Taer said, noting that many young people are killed by fentanyl. “I speak to parents often who have lost their kids to fentanyl, and they also agree that the border is a big problem and a huge factor.”
Over 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2021, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fentanyl reportedly fueled the high death toll, with one kilogram able to kill 500,000 people according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Taer also discussed deaths of people trying to cross the southern border. So far, 609 people have died in this fiscal year, compared to 566 in 2021.
“There’s so many stories tied to these deaths,” Taer said. “The community has to deal with it. I talk to ranchers all the time. Their biggest fear is finding dead bodies on their property, and they’ve had friends and neighbors who have. That’s just so horrific for them and so horrific for the American people to deal with.”
The White House and U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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