Biden to Designate Mexican Terrorist Organizations trafficking to include seemingly legitimate enterprises, and unless these cartel-driven enterprises have directly engaged in narcotics trafficking, they escape designation under the Kingpin Act. Through Sept. 30, 2022, Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (RMHIDTA) task forces seized 154,986 fentanyl dosage units in Montana. This number includes 22,031 fentanyl dosage units combined with 29.3 fentanyl pounds converted to dosage units. In all of 2021, a combined 60,577 combined dosage units were seized. In 2020, that combined amount was 6,663, and in 2019, it was 1,900. According to the CDC, drug overdose deaths increased 30% from 2019 to 2020 in the United States and are now a leading cause of death for young adults. The rate of overdose deaths increased 49% among Native American people ages 25 to 44 years old. Fentanyl is primarily driving the increase. In August 2022, Attorney General Knudsen declared fentanyl the top public safety threat in Montana. He continues to fight the Biden administration’s disastrous border policies in federal court, engaging in multiple lawsuits to compel it to enforce existing immigration laws and secure the border. He also called on the Biden administration earlier this year to take a tougher stance toward China and Mexico against the influx of fentanyl and to classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. To fight the problem in Montana, Attorney General Knudsen has increased the number of Montana Department of Justice narcotics and major case agents, added a statewide drug intelligence officer who News Nation recently ran a story titled Mexican Drug Cartels Arrive in Big Sky Country that talks about the influx of drug cartels and what local Montana communities are dealing with. To read this story, please scan the QR code. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/ mexican-drug-cartels-arrive-in-big-skycountry/ar-AA17bmk5 assists local law enforcement and public health agencies, and spearheaded a grant program that helped deploy two dozen drug detecting K9s around the state. One of those K9s has helped take 400 fentanyl pills off the street since the beginning of the year. He has also asked the State Legislature to allocate additional funding to the Montana Department of Justice for more narcotics agents. ■ Pub. 2 2023, Issue 1 25
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