Border Crisis Twist: The Drugs Slip Elsewhere

Border Patrol vehicles and agents on a ridge.

The Trump administration declared a national emergency over drug trafficking and pushed for record enforcement at the border — but the numbers behind the headlines are more complicated than they appear.

Story Snapshot

Trump signed executive actions in early 2025 declaring a national emergency over fentanyl and drug trafficking at the southern border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) makes more than 85 percent of its drug seizures at official ports of entry — not in open border areas.
Fentanyl seizures actually dropped sharply in fiscal year 2025, falling 28 percent from the prior year.
Data shows most fentanyl smugglers caught at ports of entry are U.S. citizens, not migrants crossing on foot.

Trump Declares War on Fentanyl at the Border

President Trump moved quickly after taking office to frame drug trafficking as a national security crisis. In January 2025, he declared a national emergency at the southern border. He then expanded that emergency in February 2025 to cover fentanyl deaths and drug trafficking networks. The White House used this emergency framing to justify tariffs on Canada and pressure on Mexico, tying border enforcement directly to the drug crisis.

Trump also signed the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act into law in July 2025, which increased prison sentences for fentanyl traffickers. The administration pointed to these actions as proof of a tougher stance. Illegal border crossings did fall sharply during this period, with CBP reporting record stretches of low migrant encounters. But drug seizure data tells a more mixed story.

Where the Drugs Are Actually Caught

Here is what the data consistently shows: over 85 percent of hard drugs seized at the U.S.-Mexico border are caught at official ports of entry — places like San Diego and Tucson — not in the open desert where Border Patrol operates. This has been true for years, across multiple administrations. For fentanyl specifically, CBP made 86 percent of its seizures at ports of entry in fiscal year 2025. That pattern has not changed under Trump.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) told Congress in 2023 that “the vast majority of fentanyl is coming in the ports of entry.” Freedom of Information Act data confirms that about 81 percent of people caught smuggling fentanyl at those ports are U.S. citizens — not undocumented migrants. Of more than 5.8 million migrants stopped by Border Patrol between 2022 and 2024, drugs were found on only 249 people.

Seizure Numbers Fell — But That Is Not the Whole Story

Fentanyl seizures dropped 28 percent from fiscal year 2024 to fiscal year 2025. By April 2026, monthly seizures had fallen to 463 pounds — down 24.5 percent from the month before. That decline could mean less fentanyl is crossing the border. It could also mean traffickers changed their routes or methods. Analysts have long warned that seizure counts alone do not tell you how much total drug flow is getting through.

Trump Achieves Record 13 Months of No Illegal Alien Releases at Border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports a dramatic drop in illegal border crossings and record narcotics seizures, attributed to President Donald J. Trump’s strict border security measures.

PULSE POINTS… pic.twitter.com/xHJwDwoiZS

— The National Pulse (@TheNatPulse) June 19, 2026

Cocaine seizures actually went up during the same period. Marijuana and heroin seizures kept falling. The picture is mixed. What is clear is that the Trump administration’s border crackdown reduced illegal crossings significantly. Whether it put a real dent in drug trafficking is harder to prove. More screening technology at ports of entry — where the drugs actually come through — may matter more than policies aimed at stopping migrants in the open desert.