By Charles Boothe, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — A bipartisan effort is under way to urge the Biden administration to take a deep dive into cyber investigations of fentanyl trafficking.
Senators Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Amy Kloburchar, D-Minn., penned a letter last week to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas highlighting how dark web opioid traffickers can exploit the anonymity and reach of the internet to make illegal drugs available to American customers.
“We write to urge the administration to prioritize cyber investigations into fentanyl trafficking and to inquire about steps that the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are taking to stop fentanyl from being trafficked into the United States through the use of the dark web,” the senators wrote. “Too often, these drug overdoses are the result of drugs purchased illegally on the dark web. Because of the anonymity that the dark web provides, sellers are able to make illicit drugs available to tens of thousands of customers.”
They said it is “critical that the administration prioritize these investigations to help make sure that fentanyl does not continue to devastate communities across the country.” …