Washington Post mocked after reporting on mysterious decline in fentanyl crossing the border
The Washington Post is being mocked online and by the White House for “pathetic” reporting on what the liberal-leaning news outlet calls a “mysterious” decline in fentanyl flowing across the border.Fentanyl is a dangerous drug that is often trafficked into the United States across the southern and northern borders by cartels and other criminal elements.In 2024, fentanyl was linked to the death of 48,422 persons in the United States, according to the CDC.During his campaign, President Donald Trump vowed to wage a war against fentanyl traffickers through increased border security and by cracking down on illegal immigration.Since taking office, Trump has deployed U.S.troops to the southern border, targeted cartels and transnational criminal groups as “foreign terrorist organizations” and hit cartel leaders with sanctions.According to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), the U.S.
law enforcement seizures of fentanyl, which the group explains is a “key indicator of broader total smuggling at and between the southern border’s ports of entry,” have dropped 50% since the November election.CIS states that this significant decline indicates a “greater decline in total fentanyl smuggling.”The Washington Post reports on this decline, stating that U.S.
seizures at the southern border are down by almost 30 percent compared with the same period in 2024.The outlet, however, states that the drop “represents something of a mystery.”“After years of confiscating rising amounts of fentanyl, the opioid that has fueled the most lethal drug epidemic in American history, U.S.
officials are confronting a new and puzzling reality at the Mexican border.Fentanyl seizures are plummeting,” wrote the Post.Among the possible reasons listed by the outlet are cartels finding other ways to smuggle the drug into the U.S., cartel internal strife, ingredient shortages and a possible decline in demand.Though baffled by the reason for the decline, The Washin...