Washington, D.C. — U.S Senator Jon Ossoff is continuing his work to crack down on fentanyl trafficking and strengthen border security.
Today, 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.
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.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, the total number of opioid-related overdose deaths in Georgia increased by 101% between 2019 and 2021, and fentanyl-related drug overdose deaths specifically increased by 124%.
“Much of the fentanyl that is destroying so many communities across the Nation is being smuggled through border checkpoints. In order to meaningfully address the fentanyl crisis, law enforcement officers at our Nation’s borders must be equipped to combat the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs,” Sen. Ossoff and the group wrote to President Biden. “We must also support the law enforcement agencies that are investigating these smuggling and trafficking crimes and working to disrupt the transnational criminal networks that threaten our country and our communities.”
Sen. Ossoff continues working to crack down on fentanyl trafficking and protect Georgia families.
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 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.
Sen. Ossoff’s bipartisan legislation, the Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act, was signed into law in 2022, helping rural communities experiencing high rates of opioid overdoses respond to the crisis.
In October 2023, Sen. Ossoff 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.
Sen. Ossoff also secured new resources to help crack down on illegal drug circulation in Georgia.
Click here to read the letter to President Biden.
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