EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – El Paso has not been immune to the synthetic opioid epidemic sweeping the United States for the past four years.
The Drug Enforcement Administration last year seized 1.5 million fentanyl pills and 165 pounds of fentanyl powder in a region that stretches from Midland, Texas, to the New Mexico-Arizona state line. Likewise, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 27 kilos of fentanyl in the El Paso Sector last fiscal year.
In addition, Mexican drug cartels are stepping up shipments of methamphetamine – a highly addictive synthetic stimulant that figured in more than 10,000 overdose deaths in 2021, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Combined, meth and fentanyl figured in 37 overdose deaths in El Paso County in 2022, and fentanyl traces were found in 62 of 94 total fatal ODs, according to the county’s Medical Examiner’s Office.
“We see in El Paso a lot of methamphetamines,” said Towanda Thorne-James, the special agent in charge of the DEA’s El Paso Division. “Fentanyl is in everything that we seize: It’s in meth, it’s in cocaine, in heroin – it’s in everything.”
Thorne-James replaced Greg Millard in December. She describes El Paso as one of the first lines of defense against fentanyl and other drugs getting into the United States. The enemy are the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the principal producers and exporters of fentanyl in Mexico.
“Here in El Paso, we will remain focused on the two cartels that are responsible for almost all of the fentanyl coming in through the Southwest border,” she said in her first meeting with El Paso area news media. “Right now, it’s all about social media, all about one click on your cellphone for having fentanyl and other drugs delivered. Our goal is to make it less easier for them to reach our vulnerable communities and our children.”
That’s a challenge on two fronts: Educating families about the health dangers to their children of consuming synthetic drugs for recreation and keeping up with drug cartels that constantly change their tactics and have no scruples.
“Nothing surprises me with the cartels. I’m appalled how they target our younger children with color-coded pills, pills that are made to look like candy, things to simulate chips or cookies or things we would normally eat. They have no morals and no concerns other than generating profit,” she said.
Mexico, China need to step up drug cooperation
Thorne-James comes to the El Paso office of the DEA after serving in various roles within the agency in New Orleans, Philadelphia, Atlantic City and Belize, among others.
She said she volunteered to come to El Paso when the special agent in charge job became open. The draw? Making a difference at the border, where the drugs come in and the cartels sitting just on the other side of the international boundary.
Thorne-James fielded questions about the importance of Mexico’s assistance in stemming the flow of drugs northward. That has come into question during the past five years in which Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has taken a “hands-off” approach to fighting the cartels, according to international security experts. The questions resurfaced last week after ProPublica resurrected old allegations that his campaign received drug money in 2006.
She said the DEA has a single mission: To counter the drug threat in American communities. But she said other nations can do more to help.
“Mexico could do more and should do more. I’ll leave it at that,” Thorne-James said. “I firmly believe Mexico could be doing more and should be doing more.”
Asked about Lopez Obrador’s speculation on why the campaign cash story is back on the news and alleged leaks by the State Department, Thorne-James said, “He’s entitled to his opinion. Again, I simply stand behind DEA’s efforts and what we have done to combat the cartels and I will continue to say Mexico could and should do more.”
I firmly believe Mexico could be doing more and should be doing more.”
Towanda Thorne-James, the special agent in charge of the DEA’s El Paso Division
Later she added that China, which is blamed for providing the precursor chemicals so the cartels can manufacture fentanyl in Mexico, also can do more.
The agency itself is constantly evolving its strategies to be more effective against transnational criminal organizations.
“We always want to be cutting edge on how we fight the cartels. They’re constantly keeping up with the technology and how they can do things better and move drugs (faster). Our job is always to stay one step ahead,” Thorne-James said. “They’re able to make so much so fast (because) it doesn’t require them to have an open field and grow. You can literally be in a clandestine lab and get it done quickly, push it out quickly. This is the time we are living in.”
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