According to a Wednesday report, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) says dangerous Mexican cartels are actively operating in Tennessee.
“There are two primary cartels that we have found very connected to almost everything we do,” TBI Director David Rausch reportedly said. “That is the Sinaloa Cartel out of Mexico and the new Jalisco Cartel. Both of them are actively, very engaged in operations in Tennessee and we are working closely with our friends at the DEA on addressing that head-on.”
Rausch has said in the past that these criminal enterprises are responsible for trafficking fentanyl, a deadly drug that is often laced with other drugs. Just a tiny amount of fentanyl is enough to kill.
TBI is reportedly working with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) daily to try to combat the drug trafficking.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States topped 100,000 fentanyl deaths between April of 2020 and April of 2021.
The CDC says more than 150 Americans die each day by overdosing on synthetic opioids.
In October, a drug task force seized more than $200 million worth of fentanyl in Shelby County.
“The investigation led to the discovery of 22 pounds of fentanyl and the arrest of three Kentucky men,” The West Tennessee Drug Task Force (WTDTF) said at the time. “This amount of fentanyl is enough to overdose the population of Shelby County nine times over. Fetanyl and fentanyl derived pills are deadly! Don’t even try it once! The agent who made the stop is assigned to the task force by Sheriff Garrett of Haywood County.”
“If this fentanyl were to be pressed into the popular yet deadly fentanyl pills, it could potentially make 22,000,000 1 mg tablets. The street value of these drugs is nearly $1 million in its powder form, but if pressed into fentanyl pills, they could sell for as much as $220 million,” said Drug Task Force Director Johnie Carter.
– – –
Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Building” by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
