Federal agencies reported a substantial reduction in the amount of fentanyl confiscated nationwide from 2017 through 2020. This decrease in drug seizures coincided with a period during which federal efforts were reoriented.
During these years, the Trump administration reportedly shifted its priorities and allocated more resources towards immigration enforcement. This change in focus occurred over the four-year span when fentanyl seizures saw a significant drop.
The decline in these drug interdictions directly correlates with the administrative shift. Full reporting is available from the original source.
Editor's note: Dispatch Briefs are short summaries written by Missouri Dispatch editors with the assistance of AI tools, based on publicly available reporting from the cited source. We do not independently verify every detail; please consult the original source for the complete story.