Pubdate: Mon, 27 Jun 2016
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2016 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: William C. Triplett II
Note: William C. Triplett II is the former chief Republican counsel 
to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

DRUGS AND THUGS

Chinese Fentanyl From Mexico Is Just One Lethal Legacy of Open Borders

There is also the Open Borders of things. What are they bringing with 
them? Heroin? Cocaine? Methamphetamines? And now fentanyl? Plus the 
murder and gang violence that are a part of this trade?

On June 9, The New York Times ran this headline on Page A1: "Drug 
That Killed Prince Is Making Mexican Cartels Richer, U.S. Says." The 
first line of the story reads, "The drug that killed Prince has 
become a favorite of Mexican cartels because it is extremely potent, 
popular in the United States - and immensely profitable, American 
officials say."

The Times goes on to describe the drug, fentanyl, as coming partly 
from labs owned and operated by the Mexican cartels themselves and 
partly "shipments from China." As the United States cracks down on 
prescription drugs such as oxycodone, the cartels and their Chinese 
suppliers are shifting to fentanyl which is cheap and easy to 
produce. It is also more than 40 times as potent as heroin. One 
seizure of 60 pounds of fentanyl on a remote landing strip in Mexico 
last year has the kick of almost a ton of heroin. Like oxycodone, 
fentanyl has legitimate uses, such as end-of-life relief, but it is 
strictly controlled in the United States and Western countries.

Thanks to the Open Borders policy of the Obama administration and the 
marketing expertise of the Mexican drug cartels, fentanyl is now 
widely distributed across the country. Here are some headlines from 
local media outlets:

"Chinese drug stronger than heroin causing deaths in Pa" - Philly News

"The China pipeline, Part 3: The deadly toll of synthetic drugs in 
South Florida - Miami Herald

"Heroin Epidemic Is Yielding to a Deadlier Cousin: Fentanyl" - New 
York TImes reporting on Massachusetts.

"Ohio Father, Son Found Dead of Suspected Fentanyl Overdose" - Associated Press

And this from Sacramento's CBS affiliate:"The pill that killed Jerome 
Butler, the father of three, contained the potent pain reliever 
fentanyl. 'It shut down his organs. It shut down his kidneys. It shut 
down his liver. His brain was swollen. The doctor said said there was 
nothing he could do for him,' Mrs. Butler said. 'From one pill.' Her 
son's death was one of 10 in the Sacramento area in just 12 days that 
doctors have traced to heavy fentanyl-laced narcotics being sold as 
generic opioids on the streets."

 From the standpoint of the Mexican drug cartels and their Chinese 
suppliers, fentanyl is a new highly lucrative profit item to 
supplement the existing traffic in heroin, cocaine and 
methamphetamines. It doesn't supplant them. In the first place, 
recently the White House had to report that Mexico is greatly 
increasing the acreage of its opium poppy production. By the end of 
this year, poppy production on President Obama's watch will have 
tripled. During a 24 hour period in March, the U.S.Border Patrol 
intercepted over $2 million in illegal cocaine and methamphetamines 
coming across the Texas border from Mexico.

If you only look at the overdoses, we are running over 10,000 deaths 
a year. If they are the Killed in Action of the War on Drugs, it is 
approaching the heights of the Vietnam War period. If you add in the 
associated gang murders and other violence, the casualty list is far 
higher. It's not just Chicago. As The New York Times reported last 
April on gang violence in Pueblo Colorado: "the surge in violence is 
driven by a phenomenon rolling through communities from Long Island 
to St. Louis and Los Angeles: a flood of cheap heroin from Mexico and 
an eager base of customers from a range of economic backgrounds, some 
of whom switched to the drug after using prescription painkillers."

"A range of economic backgrounds" is exactly right. If even a black 
multimillionaire (Prince) from Minnesota cannot protect himself from 
this scourge, what chance does a white baby in Appalachia have if her 
mother is hooked on poison from over the border?

Last year Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal wrote, correctly, 
that a country which cannot secure its borders is not a nation. We 
have been looking at the people who illegally cross the American Open 
Borders and it is certainly appropriate to start there. However, 
that's not the end of the issue. There is also the Open Borders of 
things. What are they bringing with them? Heroin? Cocaine? 
Methamphetamines? And now fentanyl? Plus the murder and gang violence 
that are a part of this trade?

Hillary Clinton's campaign website addresses "Immigration Reform" and 
opens with "America needs comprehensive immigration reform with a 
pathway to citizenship." There is zero recognition that the 
Clinton-Obama Open Borders policy could result in any harm to 
American citizens, much less 10,000 drug overdoses a year from 
Chinese and Mexican illegal drugs. All members of the Uniformed 
Services take an oath to defend the United States "against all 
enemies, foreign and domestic." Isn't it time for the commander in 
chief to take the same oath?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom