00:00have read is that actually the seizures of drugs have gone up particularly at
00:04ports of entry since we've seen a more secure border. Is that correct and what
00:10you've seen that we've had an opportunity to seize more drugs at those
00:15ports of entry? Speaking on behalf of HCI El Paso and our response to Customs
00:21and Border Protection, we're seeing increased cases it relates to cocaine
00:24and we're seeing increased seizures and cocaine. Oh and by the way I had an
00:30opportunity to interact with some HSI agents over the weekend just top top
00:36top shelf first class and to all of you and the men and women who work with you
00:41thank you so much for what you do. I think it's critically important right now that
00:45we continue to focus on this. We know that fentanyl death, fentanyl overdoses,
00:50fentanyl poisoning is the leading cause of death between the ages of 18 and 45 and
00:54our country. We have seen obviously the previous administration continue to kick
00:59the can down the road and this administration is taking it serious
01:02making sure that we are using every tool in our toolbox to keep Americans safe.
01:06When we look at the nexus between moving that fentanyl and drug cartels and gang
01:12members I'd love to know from you all any of you how many drug cartels gang
01:17members the number so to speak do you feel like and those agents kind of sort of
01:21working with them do we have in the interior of the United States by your
01:25estimate?
01:27Anybody?
01:30Do you mean individual groups ma'am or?
01:33Yeah, like number of people that are associated with those groups either drug
01:37cartels gang members etc.
01:38Well into the thousands ma'am.
01:40Wow, wow, wow, wow. When you are looking at the nexus and how this works how their
01:48cartels utilize these gangs to move this product around the country can you can one
01:53of you tell me a little bit about process-wise kind of how they do that?
01:58Ma'am in my experience the cartels the specifically the Mexican drug cartels often
02:05use the street gangs in the United States as kind of their foot soldiers to carry
02:08out some of their dirty work to carry out you know retail distribution things of
02:12that nature. I think and I know I don't mean it's not like a broken record to keep
02:15going back to the Homeland Security Task Forces but one of the things I think
02:18that's great about that and helps us address this problem is it allows every
02:21agency to bring their expertise to the table. I would reference you know FBI's
02:25expertise in dealing with violent street gangs and that nature, HSI with the
02:29ports and with the chemicals, DEA with our expertise in cartels. I mean I think we
02:34bring it all together to fight this fight.
02:36And we really appreciate you all working together utilizing your strengths to make
02:41sure that we're putting the American people in a safer and stronger
02:43position and I commend President Trump and his administration for making this a
02:47priority. When you're looking at the supply chain of how this works obviously we've
02:54talked a lot about China and China's role in these fentanyl precursors and coming
02:59here. Is there anything that we need to be doing to be more disruptive to that
03:04supply chain from your perspective? Thank you for your question ma'am. In HSI El Paso
03:10we have one of our agency's national initiatives, Operation Chain Breaker and we
03:15are looking at pill presses, pill dyes, molds that are being imported in. Obviously you
03:19mentioned the precursor chemicals. The de minimis act is really hurting and
03:23harming us right now because anything under that $800 threshold is not being
03:29subject to search or customs inspection. So that allows these parts and pieces to come
03:34in. We're seeing significant numbers of pill presses, dyes that are being brought
03:40here. We've, as part of Operation Chain Breaker, we've found over 50 labs set up
03:46here in the United States that are now producing fentanyl. Wow. Okay when you're
03:50we're talking about China, obviously everyone that's been well documented. DEA more
03:54recently mentioned India. Are there other other countries or bad actors that we
03:58need to be kind of putting into focus here? India is really the the only player I
04:03think that comes up on the radar besides China but but let me be clear like at a
04:07much much smaller scale. Okay. Our focus is is definitely needs to be on China. And
04:12as we look at what's happening across the country right now, what do you think that
04:17the next fentanyl may be? Are you seeing something that is bubbling up and you feel
04:22like has the unfortunate opportunity to kind of catch hold here in the United
04:26States? And then if so, what can we be doing to be vigilant to warn that off? I think ma'am one of
04:32the more emerging threats is not necessarily a new drug itself but the
04:38combination of drugs. For instance, people have been taking Xylazine, which is like
04:43a veterinary drug, and mixing that with fentanyl. Why that's so dangerous is it
04:51it basically cancels out the effects of Narcan. So it's because it's not a
04:55synthetic opioid. We've had some pretty good I mean you know the public has had
04:59pretty good success with Narcan in reviving people and bringing them back
05:03from the brink of overdose. But when you put outside things into it as an
05:07adulterant to cut it on the name of profit, it cancels that out. So it's very
05:12dangerous. Absolutely. And last thing, what should we be doing to better target the
05:16financial networks that aid and abet the cartels, you know, including their
05:21operation and presence here in the United States? I would just ask for continued
05:26accountability from any type of financial institutions right to provide resources
05:31that can be exploited or when folks are complicit but just additional support to
05:34law enforcement to to abide by by lawful process and things that we need for
05:39for some clarity. Well thank you and thank you again for what you do.
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