Border Front: DEA talks about drugs in communities – KGNS

Laredo, Texas (KGNS) – Many suffer in silence as drug addicts are sweeping the nation. The Drug Administration (DEA) says they are dealing with the problem differently.

The city of Laredo is one of the many starting points in which drugs pass into the country. In this segment of the border front, we are talking with DEA ​​about their efforts to reduce drugs coming to the country, preventing the death and education of the community.

According to DEA, Laredo is known as a drug center. The city of Gateway is home to I-35, which is known by the agency as one of the eight main corridors in the nation that smugglers use.

That is why Dea Assistant Robert Kennedy Special Agent says they are dealing with the problem differently. Noting: “We have focused on our way to reduce medicines from more complete to come to the United States. This is with the use of application, along with prevention and awareness. “

At the local level, international offices work with a working group for overdose to find people who sell drugs. – Then [we] Move it from the local corner to those who are international suppliers. In the case of fentanyl we look at the Sinaloa cartel, CJNG Mexican cartels, which are the main suppliers, “Kennedy added.

In Larendo, they have seen drugs such as cocaine, fentanyl and, for months ago, the trends of Xilazine and Nitaz are mixed. “We can still use Narkan or Naloxone with Nitasne to return you. Xilazine is a deadly form that causes amputation of the leg or part of the body, “Kennedy said.

Despite the new medicines consumed in the city, the Laredo Ministry of Health reported a 52% reduction from 2023 to 2024.

The decrease is observed throughout the country, as the centers for the control and prevention of diseases report a 3% decrease last year. Although the efforts remain great to stop the flow of drugs, they are still entering the country on a daily basis.

Asked where Larendo’s drugs were, Kennedy answered, saying: “These movements will probably be in San Antonio, Houston or Austin. Those places where drugs are distributed on the east coast and the rest of the Midwest for consumption. “

In Louisiana, the effects of drugs are felt. According to the Calcasi parish office, Louisiana ranked third in the country of death of an overdose, with more than 75% of them participating in fentanyl.

In 2024, the office of the Caldasso parish sheriff was dealing with 23 fatal overdosites and an additional 164 non -factal overdoses, according to Kayla Vincent with the parish office in Caldassi.

Our sister, KPLC in Lake Charles, Louisiana, talks to Caldasso District Prosecutor Stephen Dwight about the situation they saw in 2024.

He mentioned: “The first responders carry it now (Narkan), pharmacies provide it free of charge, so we start to see that numbers are reducing the death of an overdose but is still on the street. We still see fentanyl on the streets, we still see many of these significant medicines on the streets. “

Drugs continue their journey to the United States on the east coast like South Carolina. A video shared by our WIS nursing station in Colombia, South Carolina, captures the last moments of Mother Janet Smoke, seeing her son Justin Smoke for the last time before his overdose.

“He was my little happy boy. He liked to play jokes. He liked to make people laugh. When I remembered my young Justin, I think about it, “she said.

Janet Smoake’s family is one of the many affected on the east coast. The effect of pulsation across the country of drugs continues to affect families.

Despite its efforts, however, DEA seems to the community for help to reduce these numbers.

As for Laredo, you are asked to call the hotline of Dea Overdose Taskforce on 1-877-792-2873. To send advice to a working group to overdose Larendo, call (956) 500-4466.

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