The bipartisan bill would fund more than 100 state-of-the-art testing equipment to detect fentanyl at the U.S.-Mexico border.
WASHINGTON, DC — It’s supposed to be a high-tech way to monitor fentanyl and other substances coming in across the US-Mexico border. But it’s not enough to capture what’s coming in. A bipartisan border bill heading to the Senate could change that.
As part of our Overdosed series, 10 Investigates profiled the multi-energy portal machine operating at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas. That was a year and a half ago. At the time, Customs and Border Protection had only one machine, a type of scanner that looked inside luggage at airports. CBP is looking to install more to cover all lanes of traffic entering the United States.
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Our partners at KPNX visited the Arizona border town of Nogales. There, the installation of scanners had been delayed due to a lack of funds to install them. The new funding will enable 50 companies to come online. President Biden has asked Congress to fund more than 100 state-of-the-art testing machines to help detect and stop fentanyl at the Southwest border.
Dr Rahul Gupta, director of the National Narcotics Control Policy Bureau, said that while only 5% of cars are currently scanned, these new machines, when rolled out across the board, would make a huge dent in the fentanyl problem.
“We are strategically placing them in locations that will detect and disrupt smuggling to the greatest extent possible. This can be done. This is how we will do it. The goal is to have it at every port of entry, every legal port of entry. And this is why it will take time to get there. This is why the President is asking Congress to act now,” Dr. Gupta said.
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He added that the equipment, which is part of a $1.2 billion budget request for the Department of Homeland Security, could take six to 24 months to prepare.
“At the end of the day, this is about protecting American lives and saving American lives from deadly drugs coming through our border.”
You can see all of our coverage, from the border to the country, in our series “Overdosed.”
