Now that is taking care of business!
Per an encouraging article from the New York Post, United States Border Patrol agents recently “discovered and disabled a nearly 3,000-foot-long narcotics smuggling tunnel sitting beneath the US-Mexico border.”
That is a fantastic achievement for national security, not to mention public health.
Which is precisely why narcotics smuggling has long been a target of the Department of Homeland Security.
Indeed, per information from the official ICE webpage, narcotics smuggling remains one of the most insidious threats to national security.
“Narcotics smuggling is a global crime with local impacts. Illegal drugs — such as fentanyl and synthetic opioids, cocaine and methamphetamine — largely come from other countries. Cartels and other criminal organizations employ complex schemes to evade detection and smuggle these deadly drugs into the United States. From there, local networks distribute and sell drugs in our cities and on our streets,” ICE detailed.
Which is precisely why the destruction of the 3,000-foot tunnel beneath the U.S.-Mexico border was so critical.
“[Narcotics] end up in our communities and in our loved ones’ hands, often with devastating effects. The criminals who commit these crimes do it for one reason: To make money. They don’t care about the people using and addicted to drugs; instead, they profit from their victims’ dependency,” ICE continued.
Yes, they do. And such dependency became especially horrific during the pandemic.
Endless lockdowns did not help matters.
“The millions of dollars drug smugglers rake in by selling illegal drugs enriches the transnational criminal organizations responsible that produce and smuggle them into our country. The proceeds also fund other crimes, like money laundering, weapons trafficking and corruption — all of which further endanger our nation and put us all at risk,” ICE added.
Which is precisely why increasingly rare bipartisanship has sensibly arisen with this particular issue.
Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham banded together to introduce the “Closing the De Minimis Loophole” Act.
Per the official webpage for Whitehouse, this act “allows packages valued at less than $800 to be imported to the United States without facing any tariffs or inspection.”
“Given the explosion of e-commerce and increasingly complex global supply chains, we need to modernize our customs laws to better stop cartels and international criminals from slipping deadly fentanyl into our communities. Closing the de minimis loophole will also protect Rhode Island workers and manufacturers, while punishing shady foreign companies for skirting our trade laws to undercut domestic companies,” Whitehouse declared.
Absolutely. Thereby further weakening efforts to construct other narcotics tunnels in the future.
“This legislation closes a loophole in order to protect Americans from fentanyl and other illicit drugs that are flowing into our country. It also safeguards South Carolina manufacturers, ensuring they can remain competitive in the global market. I’m glad to work with my colleagues on this important effort,” Graham concurred.
May such bipartisanship serve as a model for other debates to follow.
Author: Ofelia Thornton
