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U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers found over $692,000 worth of marijuana in a tractor on Jan. 28 at the World Trade Bridge.
Gov. Greg Abbott is vocal about controlling drug smuggling at the U.S.-Mexican border. During a press event, Abbott said he’d signed Senate Bill 768 that’ll tackle trafficking of fentanyl into Texas — he signed it in July during a Houston press event.
“Lives are at stake as dangerous drugs like fentanyl pour into our communities at an astonishing rate, and we must act now to crack down on this proliferation of this deadly drug,” Abbott said in a release. “From Tarrant County to Lubbock County, fentanyl is wreaking havoc in our communities and it is essential for parents, family members, schools and more to get fully engaged to prevent future fentanyl deaths. President Joe Biden's open border policies have led to a surge in this deadly drug coming into our communities.”
However, Texas gubernatorial candidate Donald Huffines said he’ll do more to deal with drug trafficking.
“Thousands of lives are being destroyed in Texas by the endless flow of drugs across our border,” Huffines said. “If left unchecked, our state, like Mexico, will be controlled by the cartels. When I am governor, I will secure our border to stop the flow of drugs, and I will aggressively crack down on those caught transporting them into our country.”
According to Texas Border Business, on Jan. 28, a tractor with a trailer containing air conditioning units was attempting to enter the U.S. through the World Trade Bridge. Border patrol agents conducted a canine and non-intrusive search and discovered 3461.25 pounds of alleged marijuana, with an estimated street value of $692,244. Agents seized the drugs and arrested the driver.
In 2021, the CBP seized 10,586 pounds of fentanyl at the Southwest U.S. border — in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California — or 132% more than the 4,558 pounds of fentanyl seized in 2020.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. between March 2020 and April 2021, up 29% from the previous year.
Dante Sorianello, the assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in the San Antonio district, told KTXS-TV (ABC) in September 2021 that “we’re seeing quantities of narcotics in the United States right now that we are actually seizing that is higher than I have seen throughout my career.”
In January 2021, investigative journalist Sara Carter reported on a Houston-area Texas Department of Public Safety facility “reportedly holding $10 million in narcotic contraband” seized from illegal immigrants and Mexican drug trafficking cartels. A TXDPS agent told Carter “we are seeing counterfeit pills that are being manufactured by drug traffickers. We know the precursors are coming from China into Mexico — and then the cartels manufacture that drug and move it across into our states."
Elected in 2014, Abbott is currently serving as the 48th governor of Texas. Before being elected governor, Abbott was the longest-serving attorney general of Texas.
Huffines will face Abbott in the gubernatorial primary on March 1. From 2015 to 2019, he represented Texas’ 16th State Senate District. Huffines is the CEO of Huffines Communities, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based real estate development firm.