Fentanyl seizures in Montana continue growing year-over-year at a substantial rate, the state attorney general's office said Wednesday.Â
Seizures by state-based anti-drug task forces in 2023 more than doubled those the previous year, Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen's office said in a press release. The State Crime Lab's preliminary reports show 80 people died from fentanyl overdoses in Montana last year. Because the crime lab only verifies deaths that involve an autopsy, that figure is expected to be an undercount, the attorney general said.
Knudsen blamed President Joe Biden, a Democrat amid a standoff with Congress and Republican states over how to secure the southern border.
"Fentanyl is a poison that’s killing men, women, and children at unprecedented rates and devastating Montana communities," Knudsen said in a statement. "We’re putting more boots on the ground and giving prosecutors the tools they need to hold perpetrators accountable, but until the southern border is secure the problem will not be solved."
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Congress recently failed to pass a bipartisan border bill after Republicans who opposed it said it didn't go far enough. Former Republican President Donald Trump had encouraged members of his party to oppose it and some saw the collapse in negotiations as a move to deny President Joe Biden a win on the southern border.
The fentanyl problem is not unique to Montana, which saw a 111% increase from 2022 in fentanyl seizures. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Maryland in 2023 saw a 471% increase from the prior year, while Virginia's seizures last year saw a 260% increase from 2022.Â
Montana's Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task forces seized 6,663 dosage units in 2020, and last year recorded 398,552 dosage units.Â
"Please, never take a pill that isn't prescribed to you and talk to your children about the dangers of drugs," Knudsen said. "Just one pill can take a life."