Federal, state, and local officials discussed efforts to disrupt the flow of illegal opioids into communities and to break up criminal networks during a field hearing held on Tuesday in Harrisburg, Pa.
The hearing, “Opioids in the Homeland: DHS Coordination with State and Local Partners to Fight the Epidemic,” focused on how U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) partners with state and local law enforcement agencies on opioid-related issues, as well as regional fusion centers that promote information sharing on various criminal activities.
CBP Director of Baltimore Field Operations Casey Durst, who attended the hearing, said CBP plays a “critical role” in preventing narcotics from reaching communities as “America’s unified border agency.”
“CBP leverages targeting and intelligence-driven strategies, and works in close coordination with our partners as part of our multi-layered, risk-based approach to enhance the security of our borders and our country,” Durst said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plays a lead role in the disruption of criminal networks that smuggle, manufacture or distribute narcotics. The ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) team has been leading a Cyber Crime Investigation Task Force targeting online opioid traffickers in Pennsylvania. A domestic reshipper of drugs based in Philadelphia was arrested in May 2017, and 39 overdose deaths have been linked to the Chinese drug trafficking organization for which he worked.
ICE HSI Philadelphia Special Agent in Charge Marlon Miller said HSI is “committed to battling the U.S. opioid crisis.”
“HSI will continue to vigorously pursue the cartels that bring not only heroin and fentanyl to the U.S., but other narcotics that have a dangerous, and too often deadly, impact on our communities,” Miller said.