Scott Blames ‘Savage Cartels’ for Florida’s Fentanyl Issue

Florida continues to confront a growing opioid crisis, and lawmakers have responded with legislation in order to deescalate the concern. Senator Rick Scott (R), who oversaw the concern while he served as Governor of Florida, is addressing the issue by placing blame on “savage cartels” for the crisis.

In a statement provided by his office, Senator Scott commented that “law enforcement in Florida is seeing more and more dangerous drugs in our communities hurting families because of the savage cartels having free reign [sic] at the border.”

Expressing that “every state is a border state,” Scott further expressed that he’s “been hearing from sheriffs across Florida about how this crisis is hurting our families.”

“According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, there has been over double the amount of fentanyl smuggled across our border compared to all of last year, killing thousands of Americans – and the year isn’t even over.”

Florida GOP members have contended with President Joe Biden (D) over the border, accusing the President of supporting an “open border” policy with the United States. This led to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) criticizing the President, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) announced that Texas would be implementing its own southern border.

Governor DeSantis directed law enforcement to the southern border to subdue entries earlier this year. While addressing media at a press conference in Del Rio, Texas, DeSantis said that many individuals that were apprehended were heading to the Sunshine State.

“Seventy percent of the people they have interdicted said their ultimate destination is the state of Florida,” said DeSantis, adding that “this is something that every time there’s a wave across that border, I’m not saying it’s 70% in every single part of the border, but for here, it’s the majority.”

In July, Governor DeSantis also discussed concerns with fentanyl during the press conference with the Texas Governor.

“In the last month alone, 1,050 lbs. of the deadly narcotic fentanyl was seized at the southwest border,” shared DeSantis, adding that “this is enough to kill 72% of the U.S. population.” He further explained that “27 times more fentanyl was seized in June 2021 compared to June 2018.”