Big Seizures, Bigger Questions For Trump

Border Patrol officers speaking with individuals near a fence.

The Trump administration is claiming record drug seizures at the border — but the full picture is more complicated than the headlines suggest.

Story Snapshot

Trump signed executive orders declaring a national emergency over fentanyl and illegal drugs, directly linking border enforcement to drug interdiction.
Over 86 percent of fentanyl seizures happen at official border crossings — not in the open desert where Border Patrol operates.
Data shows fentanyl seizures actually dropped sharply in fiscal year 2025, even as cocaine seizures rose.
About 81 percent of people caught smuggling fentanyl at ports of entry are U.S. citizens — not illegal migrants.

Trump’s Border Crackdown and the Drug Fight

President Trump moved fast after taking office. In January 2025, he declared a national emergency at the southern border. Then in February, he expanded that emergency to specifically target fentanyl and other deadly drugs flowing into the country. The White House tied this directly to border enforcement, using it to justify new tariffs on Canada and pressure on Mexico to do more to stop drug traffickers.

The administration’s messaging has been strong. Officials pointed to large fentanyl busts and claimed illegal crossings and drug flows were both dropping. One Drug Enforcement Administration report cited seizures equal to more than 379 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl. Those are real numbers — and real wins. But the broader data tells a more complicated story that every American should understand.

What the Seizure Numbers Actually Show

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows that fentanyl seizures dropped sharply in fiscal year 2025 — down from prior years. Seizures of marijuana and heroin also continued to fall. Cocaine seizures went up. This mixed picture matters because a drop in seizures does not always mean less drug trafficking. It can also mean traffickers changed their routes, or that enforcement focus shifted.

Here is a key fact that gets lost in the political debate: more than 86 percent of fentanyl seized at the southern border is caught at official ports of entry — the legal crossing points — not in the open areas between crossings where Border Patrol patrols. That means the biggest driver of seizure numbers is how many inspectors and scanners are working at legal crossings, not how many migrants are being stopped in the desert.

Who Is Actually Smuggling Fentanyl?

This part surprises many people. Freedom of Information Act data shows that about 81 percent of people caught smuggling fentanyl at southern border ports of entry are U.S. citizens — not illegal migrants. Criminal organizations use American citizens because they draw less attention at checkpoints. They typically hide the drugs in passenger vehicles. Migrants crossing on foot between ports of entry almost never carry fentanyl.

The Trump administration has delivered a historic number of ZERO catch-and-releases at the border in the last year, AND total drug seizures by the CBP were 56% higher this fiscal year than the same period in 2024!—https://t.co/av5FoOy5vL

— Kenn Reinhardt (@KennReinhardt) June 20, 2026

Between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, Border Patrol stopped more than 5.8 million migrants. Of those, drugs were found on only 249 people. That is a tiny fraction. This does not mean open borders are fine — illegal immigration brings many serious problems. But it does mean that stopping illegal border crossings and stopping fentanyl are two different fights that require different tools.

The Real Path to Stopping Fentanyl

The data points to a clear answer: more scanning technology at legal ports of entry. That is where nearly all the fentanyl comes through. Better scanners catch more drugs hidden in cars and trucks without slowing down legal trade. Trump also signed the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act in July 2025, which stiffened prison sentences for fentanyl traffickers. That kind of targeted action hits the actual supply chain.

The bottom line is this: border security matters, and the Trump administration deserves credit for taking the drug crisis seriously. Tougher enforcement sends a message. But to truly win the fentanyl fight, the focus must go where the drugs actually are — the legal crossing points — and target the criminal networks using American citizens as mules. Claiming victory based on seizure numbers alone, without understanding what drives those numbers, leaves Americans with an incomplete picture of a crisis that is still killing tens of thousands every year.