Kyrsten Sinema focused on slowing flow of fentanyl coming across Arizona-Mexico border

PHOENIX — U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona has made the continued flow of fentanyl crossing from Mexico a priority this week.

Sinema met with Arizona border leaders on Tuesday and also hosted a tele-town hall with Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell to discuss how to slow the synthetic opioid’s impact in the state.

“We know that it’s coming through in our state,” Sinema told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Thursday.

“So the first thing we got to do is stop the flow of drugs over the border and into Arizona.”

Sinema, Arizona’s senior senator and an independent, mentioned that tackling fentanyl issues requires treating it as a disease and cutting off sources financially.

A bill she introduced that has so far received support, called the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, does just that.

The bill targets the profit cartels make through drug trafficking. Another bill, called the Combating Cartels on Social Media Act, goes after cartels that recruit and exploit young Arizonans to smuggle drugs across the border.

“[FEND Off Fentanyl Act] is a bill that stops the flow of drugs by targeting the cartels where it hurts them the most, their profits,” Sinema said.

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