On July 13, after an inspection of contraband interdiction operations at the International Mail Facility (IMF) operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at JFK International Airport, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas provided an update on DHS’ surge campaign to target and prevent fentanyl and its precursor chemicals from entering the United States.
Following the success of Operations Blue Lotus and Four Horsemen, which stopped nearly 10,000 pounds of fentanyl and led to 284 arrests during a two-month period earlier this year, the next phase of DHS’ campaign to target and disrupt the fentanyl supply chain has stopped over 5,000 pounds of precursor chemicals used in the production of fentanyl in its first few weeks. Operation Artemis has led to the seizure of thousands of pounds of precursor chemicals.
Mayorkas was impressed with the new CT scanner to accurately detect opioids.
While at the CBP facility, he toured the huge warehouse, saw the new opioid detection CT scanner, the new lab testing area, reviewed the drugs and weapons captured by the CBP during inspections, shook hands with many local officers’ hands, thanked them for their work and spoke with a few to hear their thoughts on how well the operations are going.
