NOGALES, Ariz. (KGUN) — This week, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Dr. Rahul Gupta toured the southwest border in Nogales. At the Mariposa point of entry in Nogales, thousands of people move through there every day. It's also one of the places where Customs and Border Protection seize thousands of pounds of illicit drugs including fentyal. But now, it's one of the several ports of entry along the border where the Biden Administrations plan to make improvements to border security.
About $535 million are being allocated to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for border technology. And $305 million are being use for Non-Intrusive Inspection Systems, which is technology that detects drugs during inspection at the ports of entry.
"The great work that is being done by the folks here is literally the difference between life and death across the country," Gupta said.
CBP seized over 41,000 pounds of drugs at the border in May of 2023. Gupta said it's important to focus on scanning the ports of entry because the ports are more profitable for the drug dealers.
"We know that 90 % of the fentanyl is coming through the ports of entry," he said.
He said the goal is to spread this technology to the rest of the ports of entry across the border.
