FBI Director Christopher Wray warned about a range of massive threats emanating from the U.S. border, including drug trafficking, violent gangs, and smugglers with ties to ISIS.
Speaking at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Wray highlighted the severity of the situation.
He emphasized the huge quantity of fentanyl seized by the FBI in recent years, enough to cause mass casualties.
“From an FBI perspective, we are seeing a wide array of very dangerous threats that emanate from the border.”
FBI DIRECTOR WRAY: “From an FBI perspective, we are seeing a wide array of very dangerous threats that emanate from the border… There is a particular network — where some of the overseas facilitators of the smuggling network have ISIS ties that we’re very concerned about” pic.twitter.com/qhTuvX32NN
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) March 12, 2024
“That includes everything from drug trafficking — the FBI alone seized enough fentanyl in the last two years to kill 270 million people — that’s just on the fentanyl side,” he said.
Additionally, Wray highlighted concerns about gangs like Tren De Aragua infiltrating the country, stating “an awful lot of the violent crime in the United States is at the hands of gangs who are themselves involved in the distribution of that fentanyl.”
Senator Marco Rubio pressed Wray on the potential ties between smuggling networks and terrorist organizations like ISIS.
“So, I want to be a little bit careful how far I can go in open session, but there is a particular network that, where some of the overseas facilitators of the smuggling network have ISIS ties that we’re very concerned about and that we’ve been spending enormous amount of effort with our partners investigating. Exactly what that network is up to is something that’s, again, the subject of our current investigation,” he said, confirming the existence of a particular network with facilitators involved in smuggling who have ISIS ties, acknowledging the FBI’s intensive investigation into the matter.
The border crisis has escalated under Biden, with over 2.4 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2023 and record encounters exceeding 300,000 in some months of fiscal year 2024.
🚨🇺🇸FBI WARNS OF ISIS LINKS TO U.S BORDER DRUG SMUGGLING
FBI Director Wray expressed concerns over a smuggling network with ISIS ties at the U.S. border, including extensive drug trafficking, with fentanyl seizures by the FBI enough to kill 270 million.
"There is a particular… pic.twitter.com/wV0rBulLj3
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 11, 2024
This issue has become a contentious political topic, with both President Biden and former President Trump addressing it during recent visits to the border, though Biden was not received so kindly, having been told off by the Border Patrol union.
The Republicans blame the administration for the crisis, yet somehow, the administration says it need additional funding, staffing, and immigration reform from Congress, accusing Republicans of obstructing aid for political purposes.
