U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s San Diego field office announced this week that the total amount of narcotics seized at Southern California ports of entry this past fiscal year decreased from the previous year.
The statistics released this week accounted for drugs seized through Sept. 30 at the San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate, Calexico, Andrade and the San Diego air and seaports of entry.
Despite the 38% reduction in overall drugs seized, CBP officials said more than 50 tons of illegal drugs were discovered at the ports of entry, including more than 6,700 pounds of fentanyl and over 86,000 pounds of methamphetamine. Though there was a decrease for most substances seized at the border, the 6,704 pounds of fentanyl represents a 5% increase over the previous year.
CBP said its California border port seizures account for more than half of the fentanyl and methamphetamine seized at ports of entry nationwide, and about half of all heroin seizures.
Jennifer De La O, CBP Director of Field Operations in San Diego, said in a statement, “It is evident from these statistics that CBP officers are the front-line of stopping these dangerous narcotics from entering the U.S.”
During the 2022 fiscal year, more than 29 million passenger vehicles were inspected by border officers in San Diego and Imperial counties, along with more than 1.5 million trucks, nearly 19,000 buses and around 16 million people entering the United States on foot.
City News Service contributed to this article.