(CNN) US Customs and Border Protection reported a 1,066% increase in the amount of fentanyl seized in fiscal year 2021 in south Texas, the agency said this week in a press release . Agents at eight ports from Brownsville to Del Rio seized 87,652 pounds of narcotics, including 588 pounds of fentanyl, a painkiller, CBP said in the release. The CBP report covered drugs confiscated during the 2021 fiscal year from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021. Pandemic might have made America's drug epidemic worseThe US drug epidemic exploded while Americans were locked down during the coronavirus pandemic. The drug epidemic grew in tandem with the Covid-19 pandemic, which killed about 509,000 people in the same period.

Source: CNN January 08, 2022 22:18 UTC