Congressman Salud Carbajal highlighted a recently passed bipartisan legislation that he co-led in Congress to combat the trafficking of deadly fentanyl into the U.S.
He was joined by San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson and Acting District Attorney Eric Dobroth at Tuesday's press conference to discuss the bill that passed both chambers of Congress and is poised to become law before the end of the year.
They also spoke on the impact that fentanyl trafficking has had on the Central Coast, including the spikes in fentanyl-related deaths over the past few years.
"In San Luis Obispo, overdose deaths from fentanyl have spiked from 9 in 2019 to 74 in 2021and we have seen similar spikes in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties," Rep. Carbajal said.
The Disrupt Fentanyl Trafficking Act aims to increase "federal attention on fentanyl trafficking by utilizing the tools of the Department of Defense (DoD) and involving Mexico as an active partner to combat the flow of the illicit opioid and disrupt drug cartel and trafficking activity," according to the press release.
