CBP Updates Fentanyl Strategy, Launches New Operation
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBOP) released an updated strategy to fight fentanyl trafficking and to ensure that CBP is focused on the “ever-changing threat landscape and the proliferation of synthetic narcotics.”
The CBP strategy to Combat Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Drugs is aligned with President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy and focuses on four pillars:
Promote collaboration and information-sharing to combat illicit synthetic drug networks.
Produce actionable intelligence for targeting illicit synthetic drug networks.
Conduct coordinated and unified intelligence and data-driven operations to target the production, trafficking, and distribution of illicit synthetic materials.
Promote safe handling, protocols, and educational materials to protect the CBP workforce, families, and communities.
At a news conference in San Diego announcing the new strategy, CBP Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner Troy Miller said, “CBP’s modernized Strategy brings the unique, formidable, and wide-ranging capabilities and authorities of CBP to bear on the illicit synthetic drug trade and build capacity and collaboration with our partners—domestic and international—to ensure the safety of the American people. As the nation’s frontline, CBP is uniquely positioned to lead the federal government’s efforts to combat fentanyl.”
Operation Apollo
In conjunction with the new strategy, CBP launched its latest fentanyl operation, Operation Apollo, which will operate in San Diego, Los Angeles, and surrounding Southern California counties. According to CBP’s Miller, 47 percent of all fentanyl seizures happen in San Diego.
Operation Apollo will include joint participation between federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to “further strengthen enforcement intelligence on trafficking networks in Southern California, including the routes used and their operational logistics.”
The goal is to better understand the “tactics, techniques, and procedures utilized by transnational criminal organizations to procure, produce, store, and transport fentanyl and fentanyl-related materials throughout the country.”
Operation Apollo looks to build on the success of Operation Blue Lotus and Operation Four Horseman which ended in the spring, and Operation Artemis, which wrapped up in September.
Operation Artemis focused on stopping ingredients needed for fentanyl production from entering the United States. Over 13,000 of fentanyl precursor chemicals and more than 11,230 pounds of finished synthetic drugs were seized during Artemis.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, synthetic opioids — other than methadone — were the main driver of drug overdose deaths in 2021. Nearly 88 percent of opioid-involved deaths involved synthetic opioids.