Trump Claims the Majority of Heroin in the U.S. Comes from Mexico, and the Facts Check Out

As addiction and devastation consumes the majority of the US, people are asking where it’s all coming from. Heroin addiction and opiate related overdoses are on the rise in America, with no signs of stopping. How could you even begin to combat this giant problem? The same way you kill a snake, by cutting its head off.

Presidential hopeful, Donald Trump recently tied America’s heroin epidemic to another of America’s many issued under the watchful eye of Mr. Trump; border security and illegal immigration.

Heroin related overdoses have quadrupled between 2002 and 2013. More than 8,200 deaths a year are caused by heroin, according to the CDC. Trump spent some time on CNBC recently arguing that if it weren’t for weak border policy and protection, we would have more of a foot hold against this war on dope that’s killing Americans left and right.

“Our youth is being poisoned. You go places like New Hampshire, where it’s the number one thing, heroin, and it comes from the southern border. And you go to Ohio, as an example, I was there two days ago, and the biggest complaint they have is what’s pouring into there,” Trump stated.

It has been proven that, even though southwest Asia supplies heroin to most of the world, nearly all off the heroin supplied to the United States is coming from south of the bored. Sometimes even as far as South American countries.

“Mexico, and to a lesser extent, Colombia, dominate the U.S. heroin market, because of their proximity, established transportation and distribution infrastructure, and ability to satisfy U.S. heroin demand,” the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Drug Threat Assessment of 2015 read.

“Mexico continues as the primary supplier of heroin to the United States. Estimated cultivation of opium poppy reached 10,500 hectares in 2012, with an estimated pure potential production of 26 metric tons,” the report continued.

For the past two decades, Mexico has been a major source of heroin for the United States. So much so, that it is the primary dominant supplier in over 75% of the U.S. heroin market.

Mexican heroin was responsible for 45 percent of the total weight of heroin seized and analyzed by the DEA in 2012, with South America making up the other 51 percent.  In 2014, the Mexican base has grown to 79%, and South America had dropped its foothold to only 17 percent. The results of the report reflect the amount seized at the border, and the amount grown in Mexico.

In 2013 to 2015, the number of poppy fields south of the border rose from 169 percent in 11,000 hectares, to 28,000 hectares.

In 2008, the amount of heroin CBP seized, around 560 kilos’, beat the amount seized by airlines for the first time. CBP seizers have quadrupled as well from 2008 to 2015.

“The majority of the drugs in the U.S. market are trafficked across the Southwest Border from Mexico into the United States. Southwest Border seizures conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, while not the complete picture, provide insight into trafficking trends,” the report stated.

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