Border Patrol seized enough fentanyl to kill entire US population this fiscal year

Border Patrol agents have seized over 2,700 lbs of fentanyl coming between the ports of entry, more than enough to kill the entire U.S. population.

This amount of fentanyl, which does not include the amount seized at ports of entry, is more than enough lethal doses to kill the entire population of the United States. While significantly more is caught at ports of entry – with over 22,000 lbs caught at the ports of entry at the southern border this fiscal year -- the stat highlights the danger of fentanyl moving between the ports and potentially past overwhelmed agents in the field. Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

He can be reached at adam.shaw2@fox.com or on Twitter.

Opioids were involved in more than 100,000 overdose deaths in 2022. Fentanyl is the most prominent opioid, which is produced primarily in Mexico using Chinese precursors and then trafficked across the southern border. The drug is 50-100 times stronger than morphine and is often cut with other drugs, meaning that the user doesn’t know they are ingesting fentanyl.