Synthetic opioids like Fentanyl have played a huge role in the spike of overdose fatalities in Ohio and across the United States. These highly dangerous drugs can make their way to our streets via online transactions from all over the world. Buyers can purchase drugs through various online black markets, like the now defunct Silk Road, which are located in the “deep web”. The “surface web” refers to sites that can be found and indexed by search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Recently, new law enforcement collaborations and bipartisan legislation have provided more resources to stem the flow of dangerous opioids coming into the US through the mail. This week’s blog takes a closer look at how these initiatives are beginning to play out:
The INTERDICT Act
In January 2018, President Trump signed the International Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology (INTERDICT) Act into law, allocating $15 million to support the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The goal of the act is to provide more money and equipment to detect imported fentanyl at United States ports of entry and mail facilities. This bipartisan legislation had Ohio roots: Senator Sherrod Brown was an original sponsor of the bill.
The Omnibus spending bill passed by congress and signed by President Trump in March included $94 million for the Food and Drug Administration to increase their inspections of the 2.4 million packages that come into the US each day. Packages inspected by the FDA are first flagged by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, while monitoring international shipments. Agents perform initial screenings, and use x-ray machines and drug sniffing dogs to try to identify illicit substances. If they can’t determine the contents of the package, they pass it on to the FDA for further evaluation. According to Cleveland.com, this makes the FDA inspections one of the “last lines of defense” before the package makes it to its final destination.
Scott Gottlieb, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said in an interview with the Associated Press that he was hopeful these inspection increases would limit the amount of foreign synthetic opioids moving into Northeast Ohio and other regions.
Department of Homeland Security Collaborations
To combat the flow of drugs into cities, Homeland Security agents are working closely with and training local law enforcement. Back in March, ICE Homeland Security Investigations spent a week training more than 300 law enforcement personnel in Ohio. They focused on the darknet, illicit cryptocurrency, and the roles they play in the drug trade. The federal agents will continue working with local task forces to focus on tracking, finding, and arresting drug smuggling rings in the area. Montgomery County Sheriff Deputy Rob Streck told the Dayton Daily News that the lessons about the dark web are a “must-have investigative skill. Law enforcement has gotten behind,”
Over the last year, collaboration between local agents and the Department of Homeland Security in Columbus seized more than $15 million in drug money. Their success and work are documented in Showtime’s series “The Trade”, where drug investigators were followed for 6 months.
The Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement Team
This team was created by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January 2018, and dedicates more Special Agents, Intelligence Analysts, and professional staff to stopping online opioid trafficking. They target vendors who sell illicit fentanyl by mail, and will use their different backgrounds and resources to fill gaps between technologically advanced darknet cases with typical street drug dealing.
In the task force’s first operation, they arrested an Euclid, Ohio man along with seven others, and also seized “weapons, computer equipment, and more than 2,000 lethal doses” of fentanyl, reports the Akron Beacon Journal.
Future Legislation
Another initiative that is still in congress is the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act, sponsored by Ohio Senator Rob Portman. This legislation would require all packages that are shipped to the United States to have tracking information. In theory, this information would make it easier to trace fentanyl or other synthetic opioids back to their source once they are detected by US officials.
Supporters also say it would hold the Postal Service to the same standards as FedEx and UPS, which are already required by law to track this information from senders. However, the post office has so far remained exempt from these rules, and has rallied against this bill. According to Cleveland.com, post office officials say that requiring international postal operations to gather and track this information may cause delays and backlash for mail sent overseas.
Next week, we will discuss another initiative some states are taking to pass legislation taxing pain medications. To follow our new research and research of our local media partners, sign up for our weekly news roundup!
The only way to completely stop the flow of drugs into our communities is to get people to stop using them. Our “addiction” problems in this country to substances and to certain behaviors/activities is completely out of control. We can treat these addictions but only by insuring the next generation will not use through prevention education will we see any reduction in all the problems associated with drugs. All of these law enforcement methods will have some success but drug cartels/dealers will always find ways around them because the United States is one of the most drug addicted societies in the world.