The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) paid a visit to Arizona last week.
Sara Carter, director of the ONDCP, came to address Arizona’s unique situation with its ongoing drug crisis. Arizona was one of few states to experience an increase in drug overdose deaths rather than a decrease in 2025. Not only that: Arizona had the most drug overdose deaths last year.
While drug overdose deaths decreased 31% nationwide, Arizona experienced a 30% increase in drug overdose deaths.
Republican Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ-05) hosted Carter’s visit to Arizona, and Republican Rep. Eli Crane (AZ-02) joined the pair for meetings according to a press release from Biggs. These meetings were also attended by Drug Enforcement Administration officials, tribal partners, local law enforcement, and Angel Families.
Angel Families include all family members of individuals victimized or killed by criminal illegal aliens. Nearly all of the Angel Families in attendance last week were those whose loved ones fell victim to the crimes and violence resulting from drug cartel activity.
Eight of those families testified at a roundtable hosted at the Arizona State Capitol on Friday. These families claimed that the deaths of their loved ones were preventable through stricter immigration enforcement policies.
Among those to testify were Mary Ann Mendoza, who recounted how her son, Mesa police officer Brandon Mendoza, was killed in 2014 by an illegal alien drunk driver who had a criminal record dating back to 1994 and was living as a fugitive at the time of the crash.
Doug and Patricia Quets shared how their adult son Nicholas Quets, a Marine veteran, was murdered by Sinaloa cartel members in 2024.
Fernando Basurto explained that his grandson, Fernando Jose Basurto Jr., was about to graduate high school and had plans to enter the Air Force when he was murdered by a criminal illegal alien in 2016, who had been released shortly prior to the murder. Basurto said that former Sen. Martha McSally initially soured him on Congress because she refused to see their family to discuss Fernando Jose’s murder.
Patti Fox testified alongside her adult daughter, Carissa Aspnes, who was struck and severely disabled by an illegal alien running a stop sign in 2025. Carissa — a second-generation American on her grandmother’s side, a legal immigrant from Thailand — suffered a traumatic brain injury and now requires full-time care. Fox said local investigators initially covered up the fact that Carissa’s assailants were illegal aliens who entered the country under the Biden administration.
Karen Griffin explained that her teen son, Tyler Griffin, passed away in 2020 after taking a pill he believed to be Tylenol, but was actually laced with fentanyl.
Similarly, Anne Fundner shared that her 15-year-old son, Weston Fundner, passed away in 2022 after taking pills laced with fentanyl.
Carter promised to incorporate those suggestions from Friday’s roundtable into legislative proposals and policies put forth by the Trump administration.
Attendees included Reps. Quang Nguyen (R-LD-1), Nick Kupper (R-LD-25), and Lisa Fink (RLD-27); Sen. Carine Wrner (RLD-4); Maricopa County Supervisor Debbie Lesko; Queen Creek Mayor Julia Wheatley; and Art Del Cueto, formerly president of the National Border Patrol Council.
As part of its mission to address the drug crisis, ONDCP has taken a special focus on Arizona’s increase in drug overdose deaths, especially those involving fentanyl. It is the belief of the Trump administration, and Biggs and Crane, that the border policies of former President Joe Biden are to blame for Arizona’s ongoing drug crisis.
Carter commended Arizona as taking steps to fight back against the drug crisis.
“These communities know firsthand the devastating impact of illicit drugs,” said Carter. “President Trump and his administration will continue to fight for our citizens until every American is free to live a safe and healthy life, free from the scourge of illicit drugs.”
Earlier this month, ONDCP released a 200-page National Drug Control Strategy for 2026.
Under this administration, Trump has signed legislation classifying fentanyl-related compounds as Schedule I drugs; designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations; designated illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals as weapons of mass destruction; and signed legislation expanding the border wall and increasing deportations.
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Arizona is proving to be a key bridge between deadly drug traffickers and Americans.
Out of the nearly five million fentanyl pills and powder seized in its most recent enforcement action by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), about three million came from Arizona.
The DEA disclosed this discovery within its action, the second phase of Operation Fentanyl Free America, in an exclusive report to ABC15. The second phase occurred from early January to early February.
The 4.7 million fentanyl pills and 3,000 pounds of fentanyl powder amounted to over 57 million deadly doses of fentanyl. The DEA also seized 147,800 pounds of cocaine, 21,000 pounds of meth, over 26 million meth pills, 1,200 pounds of heroin, 65,000 pounds of illicit marijuana, and over 1,500 firearms.
Arizona consistently leads in fentanyl pill seizures, per the DEA. Special Agent in Charge Apolonio Ruiz said Arizona’s border remains very accessible to cartels and their drug traffickers.
“The Sinaloa Cartel, they have tentacles not only on the south side but pushed over here on the north side. They bring cell members here to develop and start shops in these areas and start pushing the drugs into different areas of Arizona,” said Ruiz.
The DEA plans to roll out more phases of Operation Fentanyl Free America, and agents will target other illicit drugs in addition to fentanyl — heroin, meth, and cocaine — as well as the money and equipment used in the criminal enterprise.
In the fall of 2024, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized the largest singular fentanyl seizure in CBP history: approximately four million fentanyl pills.
The seizure weighed over 1,000 pounds.
Last January, three men from Arizona were arrested in Wisconsin over the largest fentanyl seizure in that state’s history. Over 40 pounds of fentanyl disguised as prescription medication were taken. The drugs were estimated to be worth nearly $6 million.
Two of the three men, Dylan and Trevor Hock, were convicted. Dylan received 10 years of prison and 10 years of extended supervision. Trevor also received 10 years in prison. The third man, Jose Gamez, is awaiting trial.
Drug traffickers don’t just use Arizona as a front door to bring in fentanyl and other illicit drugs to the rest of the country.
Fentanyl emerged rapidly during the pandemic as the top drug epidemic in Arizona, then the nation. Fentanyl overtook meth as the deadliest drug in the state. Fentanyl deaths increased by nearly 5,000 percent since 2015.
At present, an average of over three people die every day in Maricopa County due to fentanyl. Similarly, over five people die from opioid overdoses throughout the state, most due to fentanyl.
Last year, there were over 4,900 verified non-fatal opioid overdose events. There were over 2,000 deaths.
The totals for 2025 marked an increase from 2024. Non-fatal opioid overdose events were about 4,000, and there were just under 1,700 opioid deaths.
So far in 2026, there have been over 600 verified non-fatal opioid overdose events and 30 confirmed opioid deaths.
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The Trump administration’s recent deployment of National Guard troops and federal resources to major U.S. cities reflects a growing majority of Americans who are fed up with inaction on public safety. After years of unchecked violence and open-air drug use, many see these moves not as overreach but as long overdue.
Fueling much of this primordial decay is a Fentanyl epidemic, which is now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50. Meanwhile, other rampant street drugs like meth and bath salts are inducing or worsening levels of psychosis, unlike anything in history. The result has been broken people, broken homes, broken cities, and unspeakable violence. Tents and waste sprawl across once beautiful urban centers while needles litter children’s playgrounds, and women avoid pumping their own gas after dark.
The United States’ rate of violent crime, such as rape, robbery, and assault, is nearly three times higher than Europe’s. And the homicide rate? That’s seven times higher. Worse still, an alarming number of these crimes are perpetrated by repeat offenders. Our criminal justice system is failing to carry out the duties of its most basic requirement: to protect the public from career criminals. A quick glance at any morning paper on any given day in any city across America will tell the story.
In Charlotte, NC, Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska survived war only to be brutally stabbed to death on a train by a career criminal who never should have been free. The video of this horrific tragedy plays back in our nightmares over and again. We have seen enough.
The Cicero Institute’s new national poll puts numbers to this sadness and frustration:
82% support life in prison or the death penalty for aggravated murder, even when mental illness is involved.
63% want lenient judges removed from the bench.
75% support electronically monitoring transient sex offenders.
60% want automatic federal investigations into states that repeatedly release violent criminals, something the White House is already looking into.
But nothing captures the stakes more vividly than the testimonies of those who have to live with the consequences of failed policy. Stephen Federico, father of 22-year-old Logan Federico, gave emotional testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee in Charlotte. He recounted how his daughter was “executed … on her knees begging for her life … begging for her hero, her father. Me. And I could not protect her.” He did not lean on political ideology. He called out a broken system that allowed a man with at least 39 arrests and 25 felonies to remain on the streets, serving little time despite a decade of violent and property crime. “There is only one thing that would have kept my daughter alive,” he said. “Putting a career criminal in prison.”
And if you think it ends there, it doesn’t.
In Kentucky, the anguish of one father has come to embody a nation’s rage. Years after his six-year-old little boy was stabbed to death by a man deemed “criminally insane,” that man was granted parole “good behavior.” Dean Tipton has vowed that if the system will not deliver justice for his son, he will. His words are not a threat born of malice, but of despair. Thankfully, proactive law enforcement officials in Florida picked up the murderer on a parole violation, sparing Mr. Tipton further trauma.
But Americans should not have to wait for a technicality to get violent predators off the street. The voice of America is saying, “Enough.”
While we face rising crime, record overdose deaths, and exploding homelessness, bickering and posturing dominate from the local to the federal level by those who are content with the status quo of death, disease, and despair. The average family does not care about partisan brinkmanship. They care about being safe in their own neighborhoods.
In Athens, GA, Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was dragged off her morning jog, beaten, and murdered by an illegal alien who had already been arrested in the U.S. and released back onto our streets. This was not an accident or a tragedy of circumstance. It was the predictable result of a government that refuses to protect its citizens, releasing violent men again and again until they finally kill one of our daughters. Riley’s blood, like Iryna’s and Logan’s, cries out against a broken system that values ideology and excuses over human life.
Yet instead of focusing on these failures, Leftists consumed by political theater are eager to offer aid to our enemy rather than save our cities from this terror. America is not asking for cruelty but for safety. Voters are not asking the government to shrug at addiction or mental illness. They want public spaces reclaimed for families and small businesses, not surrendered to chaos.
That is what the poll numbers capture: a public demand for strong consequences that bring peace to our streets. People want dangerous offenders confined and controlled, drug dealers punished, transient sex offenders tracked, and public spaces cleared of disorder.
The new federal deployments mark a turning point. From state houses to our national capital, citizens are signaling to their elected officials that the duty of government is to protect them. And if current leaders cannot find the gumption to deliver security and justice, they should resign and make way for those who will.
Americans have seen enough. The public’s patience has expired. They are eager to support leaders who will match words with courageous action.
Stefani E. Buhajla is a pollster, political strategist, and Sr. Director of Communications at the Cicero Institute.
Arizona may be the next state to adopt drug injection sites following Governor Katie Hobbs’ veto.
Safe injection sites, overdose prevention centers, safer drug consumption services, supervised injection services—all descriptors for locations or facilities where drug addicts can inject illegal drugs while medical personnel watch to ensure an overdose doesn’t occur. In the event of an overdose, personnel intervene to reverse it.
Arizona doesn’t have any drug injection sites—yet. It also doesn’t have a ban on them, and it won’t for the foreseeable future under this current administration.
Earlier this year, Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed HB2798, a bill that would have prohibited local governments from allowing the development of any drug injection sites. Hobbs indicated the injection sites were part of “common sense solutions” for drug addiction.
“These sites are nonexistent in Arizona,” said Hobbs. “I encourage the Legislature to seek common sense solutions to actually help Arizonans struggling with substance use disorder.”
Hobbs’ veto rationale wasn’t widely shared by others in her party. Other states banned drug injection sites before they came into existence. Pennsylvania, for example, passed a ban in 2023 with the support of Governor Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat. So did California.
State-supplied overdose reversal kits are widespread in the state already, even and especially in places where minors frequent. Arizona schools have received tens of thousands of overdose kits in recent years to address the growing trend of minors abusing drugs. Libraries across the Valley also received more than their fair share.
The lawmaker behind the rejected bill, Republican State Rep. Matt Gress, said Hobbs should be replaced for killing his legislation.
Gress paired his commentary with recent footage of an injection site from Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“Arizona deserves a better governor,” said Gress.
This video is tragic but true.
I introduced a bill to ban drug injection sites in Arizona because they endanger users & harm our neighborhoods.@GovernorHobbs vetoed it, suggesting these sites could be a “common sense solution” to addiction.
Those who spoke out against the bill during committee hearings included the Southwest Recovery Alliance (SRA).
SRA’s executive director Arlene Mahoney opposed the bill language referring to drug injection sites as “narcotics injection sites” rather than “overdose prevention centers,” which advocates often prefer.
“I think the name ‘narcotics injection site’ incites a lot of fear into people and it doesn’t encompass what an overdose prevention center actually provides. It’s an integrative healthcare facility that offers, yes, a safe place for people to consume pre-obtained drugs inside a facility which they would be doing in parks and other places anyways,” said Mahoney.
Mahoney was a social worker and co-investigator on a federally funded study on methadone application at the University of Arizona’s Harm Reduction Research Lab from last year to August.
In 2023, the Biden administration issued a $5 million grant to study the effectiveness of overdose prevention across 1,000 participants at two safe injection sites in New York City and one in Providence, Rhode Island, over the course of four years.
The first injection site in the United States was authorized to launch by New York City in 2021.
Apart from New York and Rhode Island, few legally sanctioned drug injection sites exist because of concerns with federal drug laws.
The city council of Denver, Colorado, attempted to implement a drug injection site in 2018, but the Trump administration warned the site would be illegal.
However, after the Biden administration showed a friendliness to the concept, more drug injection centers are emerging.
In 2022, San Francisco launched a social services resource facility, the Tenderloin Center, that quickly devolved into a drug injection site. The transition to the latter caused the site’s closure after less than a year.
The Tenderloin Center racked up a serious bill: $22 million to service around 400 people daily for 11 months. That’s about $72,400 a day—just under $200 per person if, indeed, an average of 400 people used the center daily.
Last year, Vermont established operating guidelines for drug injection centers after its legislature authorized and funded a drug injection center in the city of Burlington. The city launched its drug injection pilot program earlier this year.
Minnesota has authorized state funding for drug injection centers, but hasn’t granted legal authorization for them.
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In a critical move to combat the growing threat of drugs and contraband entering county jails, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has deployed advanced LineV X-ray body scanners at its Intake, Transfer, and Release (ITR) Facility.
A total of 10 scanners have been acquired and will be installed across six active jail facilities. This will significantly enhance safety for staff, inmates, and the public.
Chief Mike Dawson of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office emphasized the scanners’ importance.
“This technology gives our detention deputies another tool in their arsenal to keep contraband out of our jails. Our mission is the care, custody, and control of inmates, which includes keeping them and our staff safe,” said Dawson.
The new LineV scanners are full-body imaging systems that emit less than 0.25 microsieverts of radiation, roughly 1/100th of the exposure of a typical chest X-ray.
Within just 90 minutes of these scanners being live at the ITR Facility, one scanner successfully detected drugs concealed in an inmate’s body cavity, an item that may have gone unnoticed.
The new scanning technology eliminates the need for most manual searches, helping to reduce contraband entry while improving the intake process.
There are three models of LineV scanner being utilized:
Conpass Smart DV, which is a dual-angle, full-body X-ray system designed specifically for correctional environments. It features radiation shutters, real-time dose metering, and strict beam containment for maximum safety.
ClearPass, a high-resolution, rapid-scanning system that produces a full body image in just three seconds, allowing for efficient and effective screening.
Clearpass Ci, a compact, mobile scanner designed for targeted inspections for specific areas such as the torso or groin.
“My goal is to stop contraband from entering the jail system altogether,” said Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan. “So let this serve as a warning: if you are caught smuggling drugs into or within our facilities, we will be watching closely, and you will be charged. Possession of contraband drugs will result in a class two felony charge.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
