WASHINGTON D.C., DC — It's supposed to be a high-tech way of watching for fentanyl and other substances coming through the U.S.- Mexico border. But there aren't enough to catch what's coming across. The bipartisan border bill up for a vote in the Senate could change that.
10 Investigates showed you the multi-energy portal machine that's been up and running at World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas as part of our series Overdosed. That was a year and a half ago. At the time, Customs and Border Protection had just one machine that works like scanners that look inside your luggage at the airport. CBP has been trying to get more installed to cover all the lanes of traffic coming into the U.S.
Our partners at KPNX just went to Nogales — the Arizona border town where scanners have been held up for lack of funding to get them installed. New funding will help get 50 up and running. President Biden has asked Congress for funding for over 100 cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect and stop fentanyl at our southwest border.
The Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Dr. Rahul Gupta says only 5 percent of cars are getting scanned right now, but collectively these new machines would put a major dent in the fentanyl problem.
“We strategically place them where we're going to detect and disrupt the trafficking in the biggest possible way possible, you know, and that can happen feasibly. So this is the way we do it. The goal is to have it at every port of entry, legal port of entry. And this is the reason you know, it takes time to make that happen. This is why the President wants Congress to act now,” Dr Gupta said.
He adds it could take six to even 24 months to get the installations ready which would be part of a one point two billion dollar funding request for the Department of Homeland Security.
“Ultimately, this is about protecting American lives and saving American lives from these deadly drugs that are coming through our border.”
You can watch all of our reporting from the border to right here at home through our series Overdosed.
