SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — California Attorney General Rob Bonta came to the border between San Diego and Tijuana to talk about law enforcement’s ongoing battle against fentanyl.
Flanked by heads of state and federal agencies, he discussed drug cartels and how they are pushing more and more of the drug into the United States.
“With fentanyl they have a drug that is relatively inexpensive to make, incredibly potent and very lethal,” said Bonta. “They’re also increasing death across California and the United States.”
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan reported fentanyl overdoses continue in record numbers all over the country.
“Last year in 2023, the United States surpassed the previous year’s terrible record by having over 77,000 people die from fentanyl,” Stephan said. “San Diego has taken this fight because we are one of the largest entry points for fentanyl in the entire nation.”
Others had the same message and the same warnings.
“Here in San Diego, one of the epicenters of this fentanyl problem we feel the tremendous weight on our shoulders, we feel the weight of drug addiction, we feel the weight of the deaths and we feel the weight of the fear,” said Tara McGrath, U.S. Attorney in San Diego. “If you’re in the business of dealing, wherever you are, you’ll be dealing with us.”
According to statistics provided by McGrath, Bonta, Stephan and others, about 800 San Diego County residents died after taking fentanyl last year.
“It is brothers, sisters, mothers, loved ones, neighbors, co-workers, it is simply unacceptable,” said David King, director of the San Diego-Imperial Counties High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a task force designed to help state and federal agencies combat drug trafficking in their regions. “800 deaths in San Diego, that is two a day, two people that won’t be there at the dinner table, won’t be there at the soccer field, won’t be sitting next to you at work.”
Attorney General Bonta also toured areas along the border where fentanyl is known to be brought into the U.S., but the media was not allowed to document that portion of his visit to San Diego.
