NBC News reported CBP has been unable to deploy brand-new fentanyl scanners they’ve already purchased
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is introducing legislation to crack down on fentanyl trafficking along the southern border.
Today, Sen. Ossoff introduced the Deploy Fentanyl Scanners Act of 2024 to help deploy scanners at ports of entry to better identify contraband, including fentanyl, being smuggled across the border through personal vehicles.
According to recent NBC News reporting, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has spent millions of dollars on state-of-the-art, high-tech scanners to detect fentanyl at ports of entry along the southern border; however, the scanners are sitting in warehouses as the agency lacks funding to install them.
Sen. Ossoff’s bipartisan legislation would appropriate funding to install the contraband scanners and help prevent illicit fentanyl from crossing over the border.
“Illegal fentanyl trafficking is devastating Georgia families and putting our kids at risk,” Sen. Ossoff said. “My new bill will surge new fentanyl detection resources to the border to help detect and prevent fentanyl from crossing the border.”
According to CBP Commissioner Troy Miller, as reported by NBC News, more than 95% of fentanyl seized at the border is brought into the United States using personal vehicles.
Between FY 2020 and FY 2023, the amount of fentanyl seized at the southern border increased by 480%. In 2023, CBP seized 400,000 pounds of non-marijuana drugs, including 1,142,859 doses of fentanyl that were seized by the Atlanta Field Office alone.
Sen. Ossoff continues working to crack down on fentanyl trafficking and protect Georgia families.
Last month, Sen. Ossoff joined a group of Senators calling on President Biden to include robust Federal funding for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) drug trafficking prevention initiatives in his FY2025 budget.
Last fall, Sen. Ossoff delivered $7 million to the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) to strengthen Georgia’s response to the opioid epidemic and save lives.
In October 2023, Sen. Ossoff also secured $700,000 in additional funding for the Georgia Bureau of Investigations to supplement their evidence analysis and efforts to clear GBI’s criminal investigation backlog related to fentanyl.
Last July, Sen. Ossoff introduced the Fentanyl Trafficking Prevention Act to crack down on fentanyl trafficking online by holding social media platforms accountable for failing to prevent the sale of dangerous drugs on their platform.
In 2022, Sen. Ossoff’s bipartisan Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act was signed into law to help rural communities experiencing high rates of opioid overdoses respond to the crisis.
Click here to read the Deploy Fentanyl Scanners Act of 2024.
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