More Americans being arrested at border for drug trafficking since pandemic restrictions in place

Nearly 18 pounds of methamphetamine was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after officers executed a routine vehicle inspection at the Los Indios International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas last week.

According to a CBP press release, when officers inspected a 2003 Ford driven by a 22-year-old American citizen who applied for entry into the United States, they discovered 28 packages of meth – valued at approximately $358,908. The arrest is just one of many, marking a recent spike of American citizens who are being detained and criminally charged for illegal drug trafficking at the Mexican border. 

"This narcotics seizure is important and reflects the steadfast commitment of our frontline CBP officers to keep our borders secure and protect our communities," said Port Director Tater Ortiz from the Brownsville Port of Entry.

Officials noted that “CBP officers seized narcotics along with the vehicle, arrested the driver, and turned him over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents for further investigation.”

Since the start of the pandemic, more restrictive rules barring non-citizens from crossing the border have flipped the usual arrest statistics, and a growing number of American citizens have been apprehended for attempting to smuggle illegal narcotics into the country, according to a March 2021 AP report. 

CBP data shows that U.S. citizens were apprehended nearly seven times more often than Mexican citizens between October 2020 and March 3. This number shows a significant increase from fiscal years 2018 and 2019 when Americans were arrested roughly twice as often as Mexican nationals.

Yet while meth is certainly one of the most prominent drugs confiscated at the border, fentanyl appears to be the fastest-growing drug to enter the U.S and roughly 11,200 pounds of fentanyl were seized last year. Also confiscated at the border were just under 320,000 pounds of marijuana, 190,861 pounds of methamphetamine, and 97,638 pounds of cocaine.

But the rise in the demand for fentanyl by American drug users appears to go hand-in-hand with the record number of fentanyl-related overdoses and deaths that have been reported in the U.S. over the last several years.

According to a Nov. 2021 CDC report, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. topped 100,000 annually between May 2020 and April 2021.

A Drug Enforcement Administration report from late 2021 stated that the agency had seized "enough fentanyl in 2021 to provide a lethal dose to every American."

According to data compiled by the organization Families Against Fentanyl, fentanyl is now the number one cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, beating out other leading causes including. suicide, COVID-19, and car accidents.