North Dakota Border Agents Cracking Down on Drug and Human Smuggling

While the southern border often makes headlines, officials are reminding everyone not to overlook the northern border, where drug and human smuggling are on the rise. Along North Dakota’s 861-mile border with Canada, Border Patrol agents are keeping a close watch as illegal crossings continue to climb.
Border Patrol Agent David Marcus says over 60% of the arrests made in the past two years involved people crossing illegally from Canada into the U.S. Many of them were caught transporting drugs—everything from meth and marijuana to heroin and fentanyl.
Governor Kelly Armstrong says the biggest concern right now is fentanyl smuggling, and he isn’t mincing words.
“Smuggling fentanyl into the country is killing North Dakota kids,” Armstrong said.
According to Armstrong, organized crime groups are targeting the region because fentanyl sells for a premium price in North Dakota. What might go for 10% of its value in other states sells for full price here, making it a lucrative stop for traffickers.
“They’ll send people on a train or shove them in the back of a car with a thousand pills,” Armstrong explained. “They don’t care about the people they’re using, just the money they’re making.”
And it’s not just drug smugglers making their way across the border. Marcus says agents have caught traffickers from Mexico, Romania, and India in recent years. Just last week, an unmanned aerial drone system helped track suspected human smugglers in the Grand Forks Border Patrol Sector.
So what’s next? Armstrong says the state is stepping up efforts to support law enforcement by diverting resources to drug task forces and getting dangerous substances off the streets.
“We’ll do whatever we can to help. These drug task forces are making a difference, and we need to have their backs,” Armstrong said.
With Border Patrol and state law enforcement working together, officials hope to slow the flow of illegal crossings and crack down on smuggling operations before they cause more damage in North Dakota communities.
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ValleyNewsLive