The federal and district attorneys’ offices in San Diego confirmed that the California border region is the epicenter of the fetanyl crisis, announcing seizures in less than 60 days that would have produced more than a million lethal doses.
In just under two months of operation, authorities seized 4,721 pounds of fentanyl, 1,700 pounds of precursors to make fentanyl, and made more than 200 arrests of suspected smugglers, traffickers and distributors moving fentanyl from the border to Los Angeles.
US Attorney in San Diego Randy Grossman stated that “we are an epicenter of fentanyl trafficking in the United States and we know the immense responsibility we bear to address this crisis.”
Grossman heads Operation Blue Lotus, which involves all law enforcement agencies in the border region.
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said Operation Blue Lotus “invigorates us and empowers us to defeat this great multi-headed monster that is fentanyl.”
Only the fentanyl seized so far in the operation would have served to manufacture one million 69,000 lethal doses; In addition, the intercepted precursors would be enough to manufacture millions of counterfeit medicine pills.
As for those detained so far, and all brought before a federal court, they face “aggressive prosecutions at all levels of the supply chain, from the leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, to cross-border trafficking organizations, money launderers and vendors on the streets, leading to overdose deaths.”
The federal prosecutor stressed that “for every milligram of fentanyl we seize, and every smuggler and trafficker we bring to justice, we subtract fatal doses on the streets of San Diego and the rest of the country.”
His colleague the district attorney pointed out that “the operation allows us to fight fentanyl at its source, in the distribution chain and in the trafficking structure, so we attack on all fronts.”
Lotus Azul will continue until further notice and is coordinated from San Diego because since last year the county has been classified as a national epicenter of fentanyl trafficking.
But the operation has reached unprecedented levels of application of justice.
For example, throughout fiscal year 2022, federal authorities along the entire border with Mexico seized 14,104 pounds of fentanyl, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office reported.
In contrast, in just 59 days of the Lotus Azul operation, the equivalent of 34 percent of the total for the entire previous fiscal year has been seized along the entire border.
Fentanyl causes nearly 200 overdose deaths daily, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), with most trafficking occurring along the California border and more recently increasing along the Arizona border as well. where the Blue Lotus operative is deployed.
According to figures from various federal agencies, 90 percent of drug seizures are made through land border crossings or ports of entry from Mexico into the country, and more than 80 percent of those arrested for this traffic are Americans, although the The Drug Control Administration (DEA) attributes the trafficking to the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) cartels.
“We seek not only to seize the deadly drugs of the Mexican cartel, but to remove its members and associates from our communities and deny them the opportunity to continue their deadly criminal enterprises,” said the San Diego regional director of the Homeland Security Investigations agency. (HSI), Chad Plantz.
The Secretary of Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, reported when the first month of the operation was completed, on April 14, that he was already reporting unprecedented seizures on the California-Arizona border.
“It has stopped more than 4,000 pounds of fentanyl at ports of entry, where more than 90 percent of fentanyl is trafficked. in cars and trucks,” Mayorkas said, “Border Patrol launched a follow-up effort, Operation Four Horsemen, which seized another 800 pounds of fentanyl” through April.
Operation Blue Lotus includes increased targeted inspections by CBP and HSI agents, canine units, and advanced technology at locations along the border.
The intelligence of the operation seeks to build criminal cases against transnational criminal organizations.