Cal Guard Counterdrug Task Force seizes more than 9.5 million pills with fentanyl

News

Oct 1, 2024

What you need to know: Since January, the California National Guard's (Cal Guard) Counterdrug Task Force has seized over 5,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, and 9.6 million pills containing fentanyl at California's ports of entry.

SACRAMENTO - Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that the Cal Guard's Counterdrug Task Force continued its crackdown on fentanyl at California's ports of entry, supporting the seizure of over 772,000 pills with an estimated street value of $3.8 million in August.

"Each month, the California National Guard continues the life-saving work of supporting local, state, and federal agencies in keeping dangerous and illicit drugs out of our communities. I thank Cal Guard for making our neighborhoods safer."

Governor Gavin Newsom

Cal Guard's Counterdrug Task Force has now seized over 5,000 pounds of fentanyl powder and 9.6 million pills containing fentanyl since January 2024. These seizures are valued at over $43 million.

How we got here

In June, Governor Newsom doubled down on the deployment of the Cal Guard's Counterdrug Task Force by more than doubling the number of service members interdicting fentanyl and other drugs at California ports of entry from 155 to nearly 400. Last year, the Governor increased the number of Cal Guard service members deployed to interdict drugs at California ports of entry along the border by approximately 50%. Fentanyl is primarily smuggled into the country by U.S. citizens through ports of entry.

The operations Cal Guard supported resulted in the record seizure of 62,224 pounds of fentanyl in 2023 - a 1,066% increase on 2021 seizures. Cal Guard's coordinated drug interdiction efforts in the state are funded in part by California's $60 million investment over four years to expand Cal Guard's work to prevent drug trafficking by transnational criminal organizations. This adds to the Governor's efforts to address fentanyl within California, including by cracking down on fentanyl in communities across the state, including San Francisco.

Addressing the opioid crisis

California is taking aggressive action to end the fentanyl and opioid crisis. The Governor's Master Plan for Tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis provides a comprehensive framework to deepen the impact of these investments, including aggressive steps to support overdose prevention efforts, hold the opioid pharmaceutical industry accountable, crack down on drug trafficking, and raise awareness about the dangers of opioids, including fentanyl.

The state launched opioids.ca.gov, a one-stop tool for Californians seeking resources for prevention and treatment, as well as information on how California is working to hold Big Pharma and drug traffickers accountable in this crisis.

This week, California launched the Facts Fight Fentanyl campaign to educate Californians on the dangers of fentanyl and how to prevent overdoses and deaths. This effort will provide critical information about fentanyl and life-saving tools such as naloxone.

As part of Governor Newsom's Master Plan for Tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis, over-the-counter CalRx®-branded naloxone is now becoming available across the state. Through the Naloxone Distribution Project (NDP), CalRx®-branded over-the-counter (OTC) naloxone HCL nasal spray, 4 mg, will be available for free to eligible organizations through the state or for sale for $24 per twin-pack through Amneal.

In support of President Biden's bilateral cooperation agreement with China on counternarcotics, the Governor spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October about combating the transnational shipping of precursor chemicals used to create fentanyl.

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