El Paso Standard

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has noted on social media that El Paso is in the crosshairs of the fentanyl crisis, with an 825% increase of seizures of the drug over the last fiscal year. 

According to a news release, Abbott this week kicked off his statewide “One Pill Kills” campaign and also urged President Joe Biden to label the cartels south of the border as terrorist organizations as the problem worsens in El Paso. 

“Fentanyl is killing innocent Texans, with well over 1,000 lives lost from communities across our state due to the pervasiveness of deadly synthetic opioids,”  Abbott said in a news release. “This clandestine killer is produced and distributed by Mexican drug cartels, which cunningly disguise fentanyl to look like legitimate prescription medications, and even candy to appeal to children."

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be as much as 100 times stronger than morphine, while the Centers for Disease Control reported 107,375 overdoses and poisonings from the drug last year.  

Fentanyl deaths increased by 150% in El Paso from 2019 to 2020, according to the DEA, and its report noted that it can take as little as 2 milligrams to be fatal to most people. 

Meanwhile, El Paso Matters reported that across the state, fentanyl seizures are on the rise, according to the Texas Department of Safety, while seizures in El Paso jumped 825%, according to the DEA, U.S. Customs and the U.S. Border Patrol.