Cartels bringing fentanyl to US is ‘illegal invasion by paramilitary forces’ says Texas lawmaker

As the Drug Enforcement Administration this month made its largest seizure to date of fentanyl pills in California, Texas state Rep. Steve Toth (R) called the illegal drugs crossing the southern border via cartels “an illegal invasion by paramilitary forces.”

On Thursday, the DEA Los Angeles Field Division announced it had seized about one million fake pills containing fentanyl in Inglewood, Calif., on July 5. The seizure of the $15-20 million in illegal drugs was the result of a joint investigation that began in May of a Los Angeles-area drug trafficking organization believed to be linked to Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa Cartel.

Last year, the DEA in the Los Angeles area seized more than three million fentanyl pills, almost 300% more than the year before, the agency noted. During the first four months of this year, the agency’s Los Angeles division seized around 1.5 million fentanyl pills, an increase of 64% over the same period the previous year.

The Mexican cartel turns fentanyl made in China into pills to look like medication before selling it in the U.S. through border traffickers.

In December, nearly 1.7 million fentanyl pills were seized in Arizona, which was the largest bust made by the DEA in the state.

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