Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

ics crossing the southern border
every day will continue.
In 2022, the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA)
reported seizing more than 364
million lethal doses of fentanyl
(2 mg of fentanyl is considered
a lethal dose). The 2023 figures
have risen to enough for 410 million
deadly doses.
MORE CHALLENGING THAN
LARGE CARTELS
The fight against precursors
is challenging. The chemicals
used are usually not on a restricted
list, making them legal
to produce and distribute.
In addition, due to the strength
of fentanyl, smaller quantities
can be shipped with ease. With
millions of legitimate deliveries
dispatched to the United States
each month, finding the narcotics
among them is close to impossible
for agencies like the Customs
and Border Protection (CBP).
The small quantities and the
ease of making fentanyl from
precursors (and the enormous
profits) also encourage the
growth of small ‘mom-and-pop’
narcotic start-up distributors
that operate from anywhere, including
American suburbs. They
take a small amount of fentanyl,
cut it with other chemicals,
and press them out into deadly
fentanyl pills ready for on-line
distribution.
An example is 64-year-old
Joanne Marian Segovia, the executive
director of the San Jose
Police Officers’ Association, who
was charged in early 2023 with
ordering thousands of opioids,
including fentanyl, to be delivered
to her home (at least 61
shipments were mailed to her)
with the intent of selling them.
Worse still, she used her computer
at the police union office
to run her operation.
The shipments were labeled
as ‘Shirts Tops’, ‘Chocolate
and Sweets’, and ‘Gift Makeup’,
among other innocent designations.
Moreover, no briefcases
full of cash changed hands. She
communicated via WhatsApp
and paid via an app.
Additionally, in some American
cities with progressive laws that
legitimize the possession, use,
and sale of limited quantities
of narcotics, like cocaine, and
heroin, dealers know that being
caught means a slap on the
wrist, at worst, further encouraging
them.
BIG TROUBLE IN SMALL-
TOWN AMERICA
The DEA, the U.S. Justice Department,
and many other authorities
are tackling the problem
of transnational narcotic cartels,
as the above indictments and
others demonstrate. Even police
departments in large towns and
cities have dedicated personnel
focusing on narcotics.
Small- to medium-sized police
departments are not that fortunate,
however. Not only are
they faced with a shortage of
staff who have to address all
the law enforcement issues in
their region, but some smaller
towns only have dedicated law
enforcement officers in daylight
hours. Additionally, these officers
do not have extensive training
programs, especially in relation
to complex narcotics investigations.
This makes it even easier
for cartels to establish small
operations in these towns.
The solution to this crisis is
complex. However, it can be done
if all sectors of society acknowledge
the issue and work together.
The following five points provide
an action plan that would
assist smaller departments in
keeping their communities and
officers safe.
1. DECLARE THE TOP MEXI-
CAN CARTELS AS NARCO-TER-
RORISTS
To counteract the resources
and murderous brutality that define
the cartels, the Federal Government
must declare a national
emergency and designate them
as narco-terrorists.
Only once this is done can the
country’s resources be combined
to address the cartels in
the same way America identifies
and degrades terrorist actions
against the Homeland using
integrating police, military, and
intelligence strategies to effectively
diminish all threats.
2. IMPROVED COOPERATION
TO GATHER AND ANALYZE IN-
TELLIGENCE
Collecting and collating all the
data gathered from various classified
and unclassified sources,
is critical to knowing the enemy
and how to deal with them. The
DEA and CBP understands this.
As one of their strategic goals,
it collaborates with “a wide
range of stakeholders to increase
seizures of illicit synthetic drugs
and to disrupt the supply chain.”
From these data-driven operations,
it plans to improve the
inter-agency network that gathers
and shares information to
produce actionable intelligence
to support joint operations
against narcotics trafficking. This
is where smaller police depart-
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