New government data has revealed that the amount of fentanyl seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border has dropped significantly in 2025 when compared to the previous year. Experts say a primary factor in the reduced flow of the deadly drug into the U.S. is the enormous increase in border enforcement policies that have been put in place by the Trump administration.

According to Customs and Border Protection data, the amount of fentanyl seized at the border plummeted from 1,700 pounds in 2024 to 746 pounds this year. The White House stated that the drop has occurred “thanks to President Trump’s policies empowering law enforcement officials to dismantle drug trafficking networks.”

Fentanyl is an extraordinarily potent synthetic opioid that is highly addictive. Just two milligrams of the drug — an amount that would fit on the tip of a pencil — could kill an average-sized adult. The number of fatal overdoses in the U.S. due to fentanyl has exploded over the last decade, rising from under 10,000 in 2015 to over 76,000 in 2023. Although fentanyl deaths have decreased over the last two years, almost 50,000 people died from the drug in 2024, the last year of former President Joe Biden’s term. Under the Biden administration’s border policies that allowed an unprecedented amount of illegal crossings, seizures of fentanyl surged 89% between fiscal year 2022 and 2023 — an indicator that the amount of fentanyl successfully smuggled into the U.S. also rose dramatically.

Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, his administration has put back in place significant border enforcement measures, including the deployment of about 10,000 servicemembers to assist in border security.

In comments to The Washington Stand, Simon Hankinson, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, explained that there are many factors that can contribute to a reduction in fentanyl seizures at the southern border.

“What proportion of seizures represent the total in-flow of fentanyl? No one knows,” he observed. “How many cars, trucks, and people get through ports of entry with their loads? No one knows. How much is brought in between ports? No one knows. On several trips to the border, I have seen the places where ‘gotaways’ — aliens attempting (successfully) to enter the country without inspection or contact with U.S. officials — have camped out before getting their ride. You see piles of water bottles and empty backpacks. What was in the backpacks? Given the potency of fentanyl, one backpack filled with pills could be hundreds of thousands of doses. Obviously, many drug mules — both professionals on multiple runs, and amateurs going one way to pay off their smuggler — are getting through. Fentanyl is also being brought by truck from Mexico and Canada, and likely by container at ports, where only a small percentage are searched. Cutting the flow requires a battle on many fronts.”

Hankinson added that “one reason for reduced seizures is that cartels are being squeezed by the U.S. finally enforcing laws and the border. They no longer have free rein to go where they want and bring almost unlimited people into the U.S.”

As Hankinson further pointed out, a primary factor in the significant reduction of fentanyl seizures is likely due to the Trump administration’s increase in border law enforcement.

“The Washington Post and other legacy media always adopt the framing that ‘Trump is arresting/deporting fewer aliens than Biden,’” he noted. “Here’s how that works: Let’s say under Biden, 300,000 illegals arrive at the border, and they release 85% (as former Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in December 2023). That still means they ‘deported’ 45,000 people that month — or so the media will report. But most will come back again the next day, or until they get released. Then let’s say under Trump, only 10,000 show up at the border and all of them are detained, given due process, then deported or told to remain in Mexico while their (inevitable) asylum requests are processed. The media will claim Biden deported 45,000 and Trump only 10,000, but Biden released 255,000 into the country and Trump released zero. I think something analogous could be happening with drugs — the flow is down most likely because enforcement is up, which is good; that’s the bottom line.”

Hankinson concluded by underscoring that while a variety of different factors are likely at play in reducing drug seizures, the renewed emphasis on law enforcement that has been ushered in by the Trump administration will ultimately prove the decisive factor in reducing drug use and crime.

“The Post posits some reasons why drug flow might be reduced over last year, and thus seizures too; cartel woes, shortage of ingredients, lower demand. All of these are plausible factors,” he remarked. “They are also all caused by Trump administration policies to get tough on China and Mexico, as well as far-left cities like San Francisco finally getting fed up with open air drug markets and electing responsible leaders and police, or those leaders realizing they better get tougher on crime and drugs, or they will lose their next election. Let’s hope Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. are next.”