[Senate Hearing 117-258]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       S. Hrg. 117-258

                ADDRESSING THE EVOLVING THREAT OF ILLEGAL 
                 DRUG TRAFFICKING TO OUR COMMUNITIES

=======================================================================

                             FIELD HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                            SUBCOMMITTEE ON
                EMERGING THREATS AND SPENDING OVERSIGHT

                                 OF THE

                              COMMITTEE ON
               HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS


                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                             MARCH 14, 2022

                               __________

        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
        

[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]        

                       Printed for the use of the
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
        
                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
47-458 PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2022                     
          
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        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California             MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                    Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
                Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
    Andrew Dockham, Minority Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     Thomas J. Spino, Hearing Clerk


        SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGING THREATS AND SPENDING OVERSIGHT

                 MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire, Chairman
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                     Jason Yanussi, Staff Director
                            Peter Su, Fellow
                  Adam Salmon, Minority Staff Director
                      Kate Kielceski, Chief Clerk
                           
                           
                           C O N T E N T S

                                 ------                                
Opening statements:
                                                                   Page
    Senator Hassan...............................................     1
    Hon. Kuster..................................................     3
    Hon. Pappas..................................................     4
Prepared statements:
    Senator Hassan...............................................    39

                               WITNESSES
                         Monday, March 14, 2022

Matthew Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge, New England, 
  Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs 
  Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security..............     6
Michael P. Manning, Assistant Director Field Operations Border 
  Security, Boston Field Office, Customs and Border Protection...     8
Jon DeLena, Deputy Special Agent in Charge, New England Field 
  Division, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Department of 
  Justice........................................................    10
Ellen M. Arcieri, Commander, New Hampshire Attorney General's 
  Drug Task Force, New Hampshire Department of Justice...........    12
Joseph M. Ebert, Major, Investigative Services Bureau Commander, 
  New Hampshire State Police.....................................    14

                     Alphabetical List of Witnesses

Arcieri Ellen M.:
    Testimony....................................................    12
    Prepared statement...........................................    62
DeLena Jon:
    Testimony....................................................    10
    Prepared statement...........................................    55
Ebert, Joseph M.:
    Testimony....................................................    14
    Prepared statement...........................................    65
Manning, Michael P.:
    Testimony....................................................     8
    Prepared statement...........................................    47
Millhollin, Matthew:
    Testimony....................................................     6
    Prepared statement...........................................    41

                                APPENDIX

Commission on Combatting Synthetic Opioid Trafficking Report.....    67
Statement submitted by the National Narcotic Officers Associatons 
  Coalition......................................................   206

 
                   ADDRESSING THE EVOLVING THREAT OF
              ILLEGAL DRUG TRAFFICKING TO OUR COMMUNITIES

                              ----------                              


                         MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2022

                                     U.S. Senate,  
                       Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and
                                        Spending Oversight,
                    of the Committee on Homeland Security  
                                  and Governmental Affairs,
                                                    Manchester, NH.
    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m. in 
Multipurpose room, University of New Hampshire at Manchester, 
88 Commercial Street, Manchester, NH, Hon. Maggie Hassan, 
Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
    Present: Senator Hassan, Representative Kuster and 
Representative Pappas.

             OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HASSAN\1\

    Senator Hassan. This hearing will come to order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Hassan appears in the 
Appendix on page 39.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Good morning, everybody. I'm Senator Maggie Hassan, Chair 
of the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee 
(ETSO) on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
Committee (HSGAC), and I would like to welcome you all to our 
field hearing examining the evolving threat of drug trafficking 
in New Hampshire and communities all across the United States.
    Too often, the drugs flowing into New Hampshire originate 
outside our country--and cross into the United States at our 
Southern Border. I have visited the Southern Border several 
times as a Senator where law enforcement officials discussed 
with me our drug cartels smuggle drugs into the country. Those 
same drugs end up here in the Granite State, and that is one of 
many reasons why we must secure our Southern Border, making 
sure that our border security and law enforcement personnel 
have the resources and support that they need.
    As a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs Committee, I have worked with my colleagues from both 
parties on solutions to strengthen border security and ensure 
that we target illegal drug trafficking, increase investments 
in border security technology, and improve infrastructure for 
Border Patrol stations and land ports of entry (LPOE).
    As part of those efforts we have invested billions in 
border security infrastructure and technology to gain 
operational control on the Southern Border including $3 billion 
for Border Patrol stations and land ports of entry in the 
bipartisan infrastructure deal that I helped negotiate and pass 
into law last year.
    To give Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents the 
support that they need, I supported hiring thousands more 
agents and investing in personnel and training, and I helped 
introduce a bill that was signed into law to crack down on 
illegal drug trafficking by equipping Customs and Border 
Protection with state-of-the-art technology to detect fentanyl.
    We know though that we have a lot more work to do. That is 
why today we will hear from our witnesses about how criminal 
organizations use ever-evolving smuggling tactics to evade 
detection and about the work of law enforcement and border 
security agencies to stop drug trafficking. We will also 
discuss what additional measures Congress can take to support 
law enforcement and promote counter narcotics programs to help 
make our communities safer.
    Our hearing will address the ongoing threat of heroin, 
fentanyl, and opioid trafficking, and will also address the 
rising threat that methamphetamine poses to our communities. 
Methamphetamine has contributed to increasing incidents of 
violent crime and dangerous encounters with community members 
and law enforcement, in addition to overdose deaths. Much of 
the fentanyl and the methamphetamine traffic into New Hampshire 
is manufactured in Mexico using precursor chemicals that often 
come from China. Most of it is then smuggled over the Southern 
Border in the United States.
    From there criminals will smuggle in drugs north across 
State lines and eventually deliver them to New Hampshire. 
National and State borders mean little to the criminal 
organizations trafficking drugs. That is why close coordination 
and cooperation between Federal, State, and local law 
enforcement is the key to stopping trafficking and preventing 
these drugs from reaching our communities.
    I am pleased to be joined today by regional officials from 
the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security 
Investigations (HSI), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
as well as State officials from the New Hampshire Drug Task 
Force (DTF) and the Investigative Services Bureau of the New 
Hampshire State Police (NHSP).
    The Drug Enforcement Administration leads our country's 
efforts to stop drug trafficking including coordinating with 
Federal, State, and local partners including here in New 
Hampshire. Homeland Security Investigations leads Border 
Enforcement Security Task (BEST) Forces to support Federal, 
State, and local efforts and provide specialized training to 
State and local partners. Customs and Border Protection secures 
and operates the border, including deploying new scanning 
technology to detect drugs at ports of entry (POE) and piloting 
drone detection and interception technologies to stop drones 
used to smuggle drugs across the border.
    The New Hampshire Drug Task Force helps local police 
departments with counternarcotics investigations while also 
serving as a bridge to Federal law enforcement, and the New 
Hampshire State Police serves on the frontlines protecting our 
communities and overseeing the Granite Shield program that 
promotes coordination among State, local, and Federal agencies 
on counternarcotics operations.
    These agencies all work together to target illegal drug 
trafficking, and I look forward to our discussion today about 
how we can continue to improve coordination and provide 
critical resources and support to protect New Hampshire's 
communities.
    I want to thank all of our witnesses for their service to 
New Hampshire and to our country and for being here today.
    With that, I am going to recognize Representative Kuster 
and then Representative Pappas for their opening remarks. Thank 
you, Representative Kuster, for being here.

 OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ANN M. KUSTER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 
            CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

    Ms. Kuster. Thank you so much, Madam Chairwoman, and thank 
you for holding this important hearing today in Manchester, and 
I want to thank all of our witnesses for joining us as well.
    Here in New Hampshire we saw very early on the devastation 
of the addiction epidemic with origins in the Food and Drug 
Administration's (FDA) approval of OxyContin in 1995, two 
decades of overprescribing prescription painkillers in our 
communities. Before we knew it, literally millions of Americans 
were dependent on opioids. Over one million have died since 
1999.
    Illegal drug markets once dominated by diverted pills 
quickly evolved to match the demand in our communities, and 
folks with substance abuse disorder turned to heroin and then 
sometimes unknowingly to synthetic opioids including fentanyl.
    That is why in 2015 I founded the bipartisan Heroin Task 
Force with my former colleague Congressman Guinta. I still 
remember when I would talk to my colleagues about the work of 
the task force in the overdose crisis, and they would say so 
confidently, oh, no, we don't have that in my District, and I 
would be the bearer of bad news saying oh, yes, but you do.
    Today there are 145 members of the House of Representatives 
as part of our new Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task 
Force including Congressman Pappas because like this epidemic, 
our Task Force has evolved to address not just opioids, not 
just heroin, but the challenges of the addiction crisis.
    The complexity of this crisis is urgent. Our most recent 
data shows that over 100,000 Americans lost their lives to 
overdose just in the past year alone, the highest number ever 
recorded in a 12-month period, and many more overdose, survive 
and continue to struggle with substance use disorder. I was 
pleased to see President Biden's Unity Agenda include historic 
investments to address addiction in the overdose epidemic, both 
through support and treatment efforts as well as greater 
investments in interdiction to reduce the availability in 
trafficking of illicit drugs, and just last week the House 
included an extension of the emergency scheduling of fentanyl-
related substances to continue to provide law enforcement with 
the tools they have requested while a more permanent solution 
is explored, and I know Representative Pappas will be getting 
into that because as many of our witnesses have pointed out in 
their written testimony, the fentanyl and synthetic drug crisis 
is a critical threat both to public safety and to public health 
in our communities.
    As we begin our discussion today, I would like to submit 
for the record the final report from the Commission on 
Combatting Synthetic Opioid Trafficking\1\ cochaired by Senator 
Tom Cotton and my colleague and cofounder of the Task Force, 
Congressman David Trone from Maryland.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The Commission on Combatting Synthetic Opioid Trafficking 
report appears in the Appendix on page 67.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I hope today's hearing will bring a better understanding of 
current efforts in stopping the flow of fentanyl to our 
communities and how we can provide our communities with the 
most appropriate and effective tools to combat the overdose 
epidemic, and I look forward to this discussion. Thank you and 
I yield back.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you, Congresswoman Kuster. Without 
objection we will include in the record the report that you 
referenced.
    Now to my colleague Congressman Pappas. Thank you for being 
here, Congressman.

      OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CHRISTOPHER C. PAPPAS, A 
   REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

    Mr. Pappas. Thank you very much, Madame Chair, for holding 
this hearing here in Manchester, and I want to thank all our 
members of the law enforcement community who are here for this 
hearing today for your longstanding commitment to doing all we 
need to do to keep the people of New Hampshire safe. It could 
not be a more important conversation that we are having here 
this morning. Thank you so much for what you are doing as we 
face this crisis that we know continues to take far too many 
lives in communities here in New Hampshire and all across the 
country. We are eager to hear today from our panels of experts 
from what they are seeing on the ground and learning what can 
be improved and how we can support your work with our efforts 
on the policy side in Washington.
    As Congresswoman Kuster mentioned, we lost 100,000 
Americans last year to drug overdoses. At that rate we can 
expect by the end of this hearing to lose another 12 Americans 
to drugs like fentanyl which is the leading cause of death for 
Americans aged 18 to 45.
    We know that the cartels work day and night to evade law 
enforcement and work around measures that we take to stop 
trafficking so that they can continue to push their deadly 
products out to more citizens. I remember talking with a police 
chief recently in my district who told me about ever more 
creative ways that the cartels are undertaking to get drugs 
here to New Hampshire, and so that is why the efforts of law 
enforcement are so crucial and why we have to do all we can to 
stay ahead of them, and to provide those on the frontlines of 
this fight with the resources and tools that they need to bring 
these individuals to justice. One tool that we do have and 
Congresswoman Kuster mentioned it is to permanently schedule 
fentanyl analogues as Schedule 1 under the Controlled 
Substances Act. We know that all the traffickers need to do to 
evade prosecution sometimes is to make a minor change to 
fentanyl and that law enforcement must work hard to analyze and 
individually reschedule that substance. This takes time, and it 
is something that we do not have an ample supply of in this 
fight.
    That is why recently I introduced a bipartisan bill, the 
Safe Act of 2022, that would permanently schedule all fentanyl-
related substances as Schedule 1 drugs and would ensure that 
law enforcement can keep them off the streets. DEA's temporary 
order to keep fentanyl-related substances in Schedule 1 expired 
last week. It was continued though in the Omnibus 
Appropriations Bill through the end of year so we have some 
time to get this right.
    We know that there is more work to do beyond this 
scheduling issue, and in my conversations with law enforcement 
and those in the treatment and recovery space we know that 
there is no one solution that is going to solve this crisis. It 
is going to take everyone coming to the table, it is going to 
take us both focusing on the supply issue as well as the demand 
issue and making sure that we have the infrastructure of 
treatment and recovery that is strong for the future here in 
New Hampshire, and we do have to take every step possible to 
hold those who are bringing drugs into this country accountable 
to the fullest extent of law.
    I know we are all committed to that work. I thank you 
again, Senator Hassan, for hosting this hearing here, and I 
will yield back my time.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you very much, Congressman Pappas. In 
just a moment I am going to swear the witnesses. So people have 
a sense of how the hearing will proceed, we will hear from each 
of the witnesses, and then each of us will have the opportunity 
for at least one 7-minute round of questions.
    It is the practice of the Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs Committee to swear in witnesses so if all 
of you could please stand and raise your right hand.
    Do you swear that the testimony you give before this 
Subcommittee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but 
the truth so help you, God?
    (Panel responds affirmatively)
    Thank you.
    Please be seated.
    We are going to start with our first witness today is who 
is Special Agent Matthew Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge 
(SAC) of the New England Field Office for Homeland Security 
Investigations. Special Agent Millhollin previously led HSI's 
international investigation team in Mexico, was the Department 
of Homeland Security (DHS) attache to Israel, served as HSI's 
Chief of Staff for International Operations, and previously 
served several years as a Special Agent in the New England 
Field Office. Welcome, Special Agent Millhollin. You are 
recognized for your opening statement.

TESTIMONY OF MATTHEW B. MILLHOLLIN,\1\ SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, 
 NEW ENGLAND HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS, IMMIGRATION AND 
   CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

    Mr. Millhollin. Chair Hassan, Distinguished Members of the 
New Hampshire Delegation, thank you for the opportunity to 
appear before you today to discuss the efforts of Homeland 
Security Investigations to secure the homeland from 
transnational organized crime (TCOs), particularly those that 
threaten our communities through illegal narcotics trafficking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Millhollin appears in the 
Appendix on page 41.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As the principal investigative component of the Department 
of Homeland Security, HSI is the premier global law enforcement 
organization responsible for conducting Federal criminal 
investigations at every critical location in the illegal 
narcotics economy: internationally, in cooperation with foreign 
counterparts where transnational criminal and terrorist 
organizations procure and produce narcotics; at our nation's 
physical borders and ports of entry where smuggling networks 
attempt to exploit American's legitimate trade, travel, and 
transportation systems; and in communities--large and small--
throughout the United States where criminal organizations earn 
substantial profits off their illicit activities.
    HSI gathers evidence used to identify and build criminal 
cases against transnational criminal organizations and 
facilitators and other criminal elements that threaten the 
homeland. HSI works with prosecutors to indict and arrest 
violators, execute criminal search warrants, seize criminally 
derived money and assets, and take other actions designed to 
disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations operating around 
the world.
    HSI's unique authority allows us to span the international 
border and collaborate with law enforcement both around the 
world and here in New Hampshire. This empowers HSI to employ a 
holistic strategy that starts with a focus on the foreign 
sourcing of illicit substances and extends to the cities and 
towns across America where the goal is to disrupt and dismantle 
the TCOs who profit from the poisoning of American citizens.
    HSI's international presence is a key facet of its approach 
to countering transnational organized crime. With over 80 
offices in more than 50 countries, HSI develops and fosters 
relationships with host government law enforcement partners to 
exchange information, coordinate and support investigations, 
and facilitate enforcement actions and prosecutions to degrade 
the ability of TCOs to smuggle drugs, people, and other 
contraband into and out of the United States.
    A principal element of this strategy is HSI's Transnational 
Criminal Investigation Program (TCIU), which is comprised of 
vetted foreign law enforcement officials and prosecutors who 
facilitate information exchange and rapid bilateral 
investigations involving violations that fall within HSI's 
broad investigative mandate. HSI has established 11 TCIUs 
around the world, including in Mexico, where our colleagues and 
HSI are particularly focused on disrupting illegal narcotics 
trafficking.
    HSI has a forward leaning approach to identify and mitigate 
threats before they reach our borders by targeting the movement 
of elicit precursor chemicals within commercial air and 
maritime transportation systems. HSI uses a methodology 
developed by special agents and analysts that blends 
interagency collaboration, industry partnerships, and analytic 
tools and techniques to process and analyze large volumes of 
data. These efforts have contributed to shifts in the direct 
sourcing of Chinese fentanyl to the United States and have 
driven the government's focus further toward Mexico's role in 
producing fentanyl and other illicit opioids.
    HSI's efforts continue at the border and within our field 
offices throughout the United States where HSI special agents 
respond to and investigate schemes that manifest themselves in 
various forms such as smuggling incidents at the border; 
referrals from Federal, State and local law enforcement 
partners; sources of information; tip line or social media 
reporting; community relations and public affairs outreach; and 
information gleaned from existing operations.
    HSI New England and our Manchester office take particular 
pride in our network of partnerships which includes agencies 
represented here today by CBP, DEA, New Hampshire State Police, 
and the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, as well as the 
U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Manchester Police 
Department, Nashua Police Department, Keene Police Department, 
Portsmouth Police Department, and multiple Sheriff's Offices, 
including Merrimack and Strafford counties.
    These partnerships are amplified by the programs such as 
the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) High 
Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program which plays a 
critical role in enabling participation by State and local law 
enforcement on Task Forces that are focused on investigating 
the criminal organizations that traffic fentanyl and 
methamphetamine. This comes in the form of funding for overtime 
and vehicles for State and local Task Force officers which 
would otherwise go unfunded.
    Similarly, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces 
(OCDETF), Program allows HSI special agents and other law 
enforcement partners to collaborate in investigations using our 
unique and far-reaching authorities to make local impacts in 
places like New Hampshire. We have dedicated personnel on 11 
OCDETF colocated Strike Forces, including the Boston OCDETF 
Strike Task Force where HSI recently led several investigations 
that have impacted TCOs who supplied the New England region 
with illicit narcotics.
    HSI's authorities and dynamic approaches to 
counternarcotics allows us to pursue impactful investigations 
and attack all aspects of the organizations responsible for 
this ongoing public health crisis. While our collective efforts 
are executed with diligence and commitment to public safety, 
significant work remains at all levels--internationally, on the 
border, and in our communities. HSI is committed to continuing 
the fight against the opioid epidemic on all fronts and with 
essential partners.
    Thank you again for the opportunity to appear here today 
and for your continued support of HSI and the critical 
investigative role it plays in attacking the fentanyl supply 
chain. I look forward to your questions.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you very much, Special Agent.
    Our second witness today is Assistant Director Michael 
Manning, Assistant Director of Field Operations and Border 
Security for the Boston Field Office of Customs and Border 
Protection. Assistant Director Manning oversees all Border 
Security operations in the New England area including at the 
airports, seaports and land ports of entry in New England and 
New Hampshire. Assistant Director Manning has 20 years of 
experience serving US Customs and Border Protection including 
in counterterrorism, intelligence and Border Security roles. 
Welcome, Assistant Director Manning. You're recognized for your 
opening Statement.

 TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL P. MANNING,\1\ ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FIELD 
 OPERATIONS BORDER SECURITY, BOSTON FIELD OFFICE, CUSTOMS AND 
    BORDER PROTECTION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

    Mr. Manning. Chairwoman Hassan, Representative Kuster, 
Representative Pappas. Thank you for the opportunity to appear 
today to discuss U.S. Customs and Border Protection's efforts 
to combat the flow of illicit drugs into New Hampshire 
communities and across the United States.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Manning appears in the Appendix 
on page 47.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO), Boston Field 
Office, as an area of responsibility that spans six New England 
States and includes 473 miles of coastline, 750 miles of land 
border with Canada, and 63 international ports of entry. Today 
I would first like to highlight drug trends and seizures in the 
region and then discuss CBP's multi-layered enforcement 
approach to countering the drug threat.
    First, as you are aware, the reach and influence of 
Transnational Criminal Organizations continues to expand across 
and beyond our borders. TCOs increasingly demonstrate the 
ability to produce sophisticated synthetic drugs and analogues 
that are difficult to detect and legally enforce.
    They also continually adjust their operations to circumvent 
detection and interdiction by law enforcement by shifting to 
drugs that can be transported in small quantities and improving 
fabrication and concealment techniques.
    Nationwide, CBP seizures of fentanyl have increased 
sharply. In fiscal year (FY) 2021, CBP seized more than 11,000 
pounds of fentanyl, more than twice the weight seized in fiscal 
year 2020 and about four times as much as fiscal year 2019.
    In fiscal year 2021 within the New England region--that is, 
the OFO Boston Field Office Area of Responsibility (AOR) and 
Border Patrol's Swanton and Houlton Sectors--CBP seized more 
than 2.8 tons of illegal drugs, the majority being marijuana, 
but also cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
    However, for the purpose of this hearing I would like to 
highlight the 264 shipments of narcotics that CBP seized 
destined to New Hampshire during the course of fiscal year 
2021, a 45 percent increase compared to the 181 seizures in 
fiscal year 2020.
    Almost all of these seizures occurred outside the Boston 
Field Office AOR at an Express Consignment Courier (ECC) or 
International Mail Facility (IMF) and most involved 
prescription opioid medication such as Oxycodone, Tramadol or 
Tapentadol.
    CBP recognizes the significant impact opioids and other 
narcotics continue to have on our local communities and has 
implemented an aggressive and strategic enforcement approach 
that leverages partnerships, advance information and 
intelligence, and sophisticated detection and scientific 
laboratory capabilities to combat the cross-border flow of 
drugs and address the trends I just discussed.
    Our partnerships are critical. We work closely with our 
Federal partners, especially U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug 
Enforcement Administration, the United States Postal Service 
(USPS), as well as State, local, tribal, and international 
partners to share, inform and collaborate in joint enforcement 
operations to identify, target, and disrupt illicit drug 
activity.
    The authorities and mechanisms that enable CBP to obtain 
advance electronic shipping information are crucial to CBP's 
ability to identify shipments that are potentially at a higher 
risk of obtaining contraband.
    At CBP's National Targeting Center (NTC), this advance data 
and law enforcement and intelligence records converge to 
facilitate the identification of suspect high-risk shipments, 
cargo, and travelers.
    At all CBP operational environments, nonintrusive 
inspection systems efficiently and quickly detect the presence 
of suspect illegal narcotics within shipments, passenger 
belongings, cargo containers, commercial trucks, rail cars and 
privately owned vehicles.
    For narcotics seized through the international mail and at 
express consignment facilities, CBP uses various field-testing 
devices to rapidly screen suspected controlled substances.
    Onsite CBP laboratories and scientists as well as 24/7 
teleforensic reachback service that enables CBP officers to 
submit sample data electronically to CBP scientists facilitate 
swift scientific interpretation and identification of suspected 
narcotics.
    Canine operations are also an invaluable component of our 
counternarcotics operations. The CBP Canine Training Program 
maintains the largest and most diverse law enforcement canine 
training program in the country. Adapting to current treads, 
all Concealed Human and Narcotic Detection canine teams have 
completed training to include the odor of fentanyl and fentanyl 
analogues. All CBP information and laboratory identification 
data are provided to the NTC and our Federal investigative 
partners.
    CBP's enforcement approach not only focuses on efficient 
detection of suspected illicit drugs but also prioritizes swift 
identification of substances and information sharing. It is 
this collaborative approach that leads to investigations, 
prosecutions, and the dismantling of TCO networks and 
operations.
    As the threat of illicit drugs persists in communities 
across the United States, CBP will continue to work with our 
partners, share information, and prioritize and dedicate 
resources to counter TCOs and disrupt the flow of illicit drugs 
that cross our borders.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I look 
forward to your questions.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you so much.
    Our third witness today is Special Agent Jon DeLena, Deputy 
Special Agent in charge of the New England Field Division 
(NEFD) for the Drug Enforcement Administration. Special Agent 
DeLena has nearly 30 years of law enforcement experience, 
including more than 25 years with the DEA. Special Agent DeLena 
previously served in the DEA's Office of Global Operations and 
in its Office of Special Projects.
    Welcome, Special Agent DeLena. You are recognized for your 
opening statement.

TESTIMONY OF JON DELENA\1\, DEPUTY SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, NEW 
 ENGLAND FIELD DIVISION, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, U.S. 
                     DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

    Mr. DeLena. Good morning, Chair Hassan, Congresswoman 
Kuster, and Congressman Pappas. On behalf of the Department of 
Justice (DOJ) and in particular the approximately 9,000 
employees of the Drug Enforcement Administration, it is my 
honor to appear before you here today.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Mr. DeLena appears in the Appendix on 
page 55.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Today's hearing comes at a critical moment in our country's 
history. Our nation is in the midst of a devastating overdose 
epidemic that claimed the lives of 104,000 people this past 
year. 286 people die every day from drug overdoses and 
countless more overdose victims survive. I speak for all of DEA 
when I say overdose deaths at this rate are devastating 
families, friends, communities, and our entire country.
    I have had the privilege of being a DEA Special Agent for 
26 years, having worked in Colorado, Florida, Virginia, and of 
course New England, covering Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and my home, New Hampshire.
    As I look back on my career and service to the citizens of 
the United States, the challenges we face with the ongoing 
opioid crisis along with the sophistication, capacity, and 
global reach of the Mexican polydrug cartels is what worries 
and concerns me the most.
    As the Deputy Special Agent in charge of the New England 
Field Division, I have seen firsthand the extreme lawlessness 
and other atrocities committed by Mexican cartels to maintain 
their dominant market in New Hampshire and throughout New 
England. The ruthlessness of these cartels combined with the 
callous greed is destroying families and communities resulting 
in an increase of violence and crime here in the Granite State 
and throughout our entire country.
    Dangerous and highly sophisticated cartels operating in 
both Mexico and the United States have been and will likely 
continue to be the most significant source of illicit narcotics 
trafficked into and throughout New Hampshire.
    As you well know though, illicit fentanyl is devastating 
New England one person at a time. Fentanyl originating in 
Mexico led the DEA to issue a public safety alert to raise 
public awareness that Mexican cartels are putting fentanyl into 
pills to look like legitimate pharmaceutical medications. This 
cartel strategy results in people believing they are getting 
the legitimate prescription drug. Sadly, it has become so 
deadly.
    If that isn't tragic enough, fentanyl isn't the only drug 
that we are encountering in these fake pills. There has been a 
vast increase in the availability of Mexican-sourced 
methamphetamine. This increase is largely attributed to an 
increase in fake pills designed to look like Adderall pills 
which have been popular especially on college campuses and 
throughout circles of young Americans.
    New Hampshire State Police report a more than 7-fold 
increase in the volume of meth cases from 2015 to 2021. Clearly 
our challenges, especially with deadly fake pills, are immense. 
This calculated move from plant-derived drugs to chemically 
derived synthetic drugs has become a game changer. It has 
created a limitless supply of fentanyl and methamphetamine. As 
a result these drugs are flooding our communities in record 
amounts.
    The model of the drug cartels right now is simple. 
Relentless expansion and addiction. They simply don't care if 
Americans die. They only want to reach more Americans in 
unprecedented ways. This is a moment in time, our moment where 
we have to do everything we can to reverse this deadly trend.
    DEA is committed to removing as many drugs as possible from 
our communities but we are also dedicated to engaging the 
public to help keep our communities safe and healthy. This is 
why DEA launched the One Pill Can Kill (OPCK) initiative. This 
campaign is a multi-faceted approach to remove deadly 
counterfeit pills from the streets while also engaging the 
community to help prevent further harm caused by these deadly 
pills.
    This campaign has yielded tremendous results throughout New 
Hampshire and the entire country. Over 20 million fake pills 
were seized nationally in 2021. This campaign was a full court 
press to get the word out and inform parents about how their 
kids may also be able to buy fake pills on the internet and via 
social media apps. Our website DEA.gov has resources for 
parents and educators and provides information on how to detect 
if your child may be using drugs and strategies on how to 
intervene. Programs such as these have been an invaluable tool 
in the fight against opioids here in New Hampshire.
    We have also been working to get the word out to New 
Hampshire youth. Last fall I, along with Administrator Milgram, 
participated in a Virtual Youth Summit with middle and high 
school students throughout New Hampshire. In collaboration with 
several of our tremendous prevention partners here in the 
Granite State, we ensured that the focus of this Summit was to 
educate about the dangers of drugs and the benefits of healthy 
living.
    Working together we can accomplish a lot when it comes to 
keeping our children safe and healthy. We reached over 15,000 
students that day. This also followed the nation's first ever 
Opioid SUMMIT which we conducted in 2017 bringing over 8,000 
students into the Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) 
arena to deliver that same critical message.
    I am passionate about our work with prevention, outreach, 
and young leaders and I will never stop doing that.
    Make no mistake, no matter the challenge, DEA will never 
stop aggressively pursuing the most dangerous and prolific 
criminals trafficking in illicit drugs throughout our 
communities. While this is a situation where the cartels are 
driving the drug crisis and building new drug markets and new 
users, we will not tire in our resolve to keep the children of 
our communities safe and drug free.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify before the 
Subcommittee here today on this very important issue, and I 
look forward to your questions.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you very much, Special Agent. Now we 
will turn to Commander Ellen Arcieri, Commander of the New 
Hampshire Attorney General's (AG) Drug Task Force. Commander 
Arcieri oversees the 20 Drug Task Force Investigators assigned 
to four regional teams covering designated geographical areas 
of New Hampshire. Commander Arcieri most recently served as the 
Chief of the Brentwood Police Department and has 35 years of 
law enforcement experience.
    Welcome, Commander. You are recognized for your opening 
statement.

  TESTIMONY OF ELLEN M. ARCIERI,\1\ COMMANDER, NEW HAMPSHIRE 
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S DRUG TASK FORCE, NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF 
                            JUSTICE

    Mr. Arcieri. Thank you and good morning, ladies and 
gentlemen of the Subcommittee. My name is Ellen Arcieri, and I 
presently hold the Commander of the New Hampshire Attorney 
General's Drug Task Force. The Drug Task Force was created in 
1986 under the Attorney General's office as a statewide 
multijurisdictional effort to combat the increasing effects 
illicit drugs were having on the State of New Hampshire and to 
investigate violations of the New Hampshire controlled drug 
act.
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    \1\ The prepared statement of Ms. Arcieri appears in the Appendix 
on page 62.
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    The Drug Task Force is made up of investigators from the 
AG's Office and police officers from local, county, and State 
Police departments. These departments will lend police officers 
to the Drug Task Force for a period of several years in an 
effort to combat the drug crisis occurring in their 
communities.
    In exchange, these departments receive funding from the 
Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) to assist in 
backfilling the Department's positions left vacant. Presently, 
the Drug Task Force has four regional teams servicing central, 
western, and northern sections of New Hampshire. These teams 
comprise 13 Drug Task Force officers from other police 
departments and three New Hampshire Attorney General 
investigators to include the Commander, Deputy Commander, and a 
New Hampshire Attorney General criminal investigator.
    To meet the demands and mission of the New Hampshire 
Attorney General's Drug Task Force the following goals were 
created fairly recently. First is to combat the proliferation 
of illegal narcotics by concentrating enforcement in a 
multiagency, multijurisdictional task force that focuses on the 
distribution and sale of street level illegal narcotics.
    Second, increase collaboration with New Hampshire State 
Police, the DEA, HIDTA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
(FBI), and other State, local, and Federal partners to maximize 
resources.
    Third, focus on communities in need of a drug enforcement 
presence. The top priority are towns and communities with no 
investigative presence due to a critical shortage of personnel 
and resources. Top priority to the towns and communities that 
have dedicated personnel to the drug task force. Investigations 
that have potential to develop into long-term, large scale drug 
investigations involving other State jurisdictions, the DTF 
will work collaboratively with agencies tasked with working 
such investigations. These agencies include but are not limited 
to the New Hampshire State Police, DEA, HIDTA, FBI, Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement, Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF), 
just to name a few of the Federal agencies.
    As previously mentioned, one of the goals of the New 
Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force is working 
collaboratively with numerous agencies. The most recent example 
of this cooperation was an investigation initiated by the Drug 
Task Force. That was advanced to the next level working 
deliberately with DEA, HIDTA, FBI, and the New Hampshire State 
Police. This investigation began with undercover purchases of 
methamphetamine and fentanyl from street level to mid-level 
drug traffickers in central New Hampshire. Through extensive 
investigative efforts, this investigation was advanced to an 
electronic T3 also known as a wiretap investigation resulting 
in the dismantling of an organization distributing large 
quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine.
    This organization spanned the States of Massachusetts, New 
Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine, and ties to the Mexican drug 
cartels. To accomplish such investigations takes additional 
funding for personnel and equipment as well as continued 
communication with contributing agencies. The funding for this 
investigation was a three-tiered effort between the New 
Hampshire Attorney General's Office, the New Hampshire State 
Police, and DEA.
    The needs for the New Hampshire Attorney General's Task 
Force. In 2022 the Drug Task Force received funding through the 
COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force program. This funding will enable 
the Drug Task Force to purchase essential equipment, training, 
and overtime for officers and investigators to perform their 
duties more effectively.
    However, the most pressing need for the DTF is funding for 
additional grant positions as well as increasing the total 
amount per grant annually. Presently, the New Hampshire 
Attorney General's Drug Task Force will provide $60,000 
annually to a police department who furnishes the DTF with an 
investigator. This amount does not adequately cover the average 
cost of salary, benefits, training, and equipment. Simply put, 
this amount does not cover the cost to backfill the vacant 
officer's position, resulting in police departments unable to 
provide an officer to the DTF. Furthermore, because of the 
critical shortage of law enforcement in New Hampshire, the 
majority of police departments cannot provide support due to 
the need of provide coverage and services to their own 
communities. In closing, the optimum situation for the Drug 
Task Force would be to, number 1, continue to receive Federal 
funding through the COPS Anti-Heroin grant to sustain the 
essential needs of equipment, overtime, and training for our 
mission; and number 2, to receive sustained additional funding 
to increase the number of DTF grant positions available as well 
as increase the annual amount per grant. In closing, I would 
like to thank everyone on the panel for allowing me the 
opportunity to educate you on the New Hampshire Attorney 
General's Drug Task Force mission as well as our recent 
successes and present challenges that we have shared with our 
State and Federal partners.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you very much, Commander. Our final 
witness today is Major Joseph Ebert, Commander of the 
Investigative Services Bureau of the New Hampshire State 
Police.
    As Commander of the Investigative Services Bureau, Major 
Ebert oversees several investigative terms for the New 
Hampshire State Police including the Narcotics Investigation 
Unit (NIU) and the Terrorism Intelligence Unit (TIU) which both 
play an important role in investigating drug trafficking in the 
Granite State. Major Ebert has 20 years of experience with the 
New Hampshire State Police.
    Welcome, Major. You are recognized for your opening 
statement.

TESTIMONY OF JOSEPH M. EBERT,\1\ MAJOR, INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES 
          BUREAU COMMANDER, NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE POLICE

    Major Ebert. Good morning. As was mentioned, my name is 
Joseph Ebert. I am a Major with the State Police overseeing the 
Investigative Services Bureau which is your Detectives from the 
New Hampshire State Police. As part of that position I oversee 
both the Narcotics Investigations Unit and the Terrorism and 
Intelligence Unit. Both of those units are significantly 
involved in the challenge of stemming the tide of illegal drugs 
into New Hampshire, and by proxy to rates of associated crime, 
injury, and death that results from the presence of those drugs 
in our communities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Ebert appears in the Appendix on 
page 65.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Members of the State Police NIU are tasked with complex 
undercover narcotics investigations, the management of 
confidential informants, and the coordination of case 
investigations with numerous law enforcement partners. The TIU 
via personnel assigned to the New Hampshire Information and 
Analysis Center (NHIAC) are tasked with things like the 
exchange of narcotics information and intelligence.
    The State of New Hampshire via the Information and Analysis 
Center has led the way in drug information exchange and 
intelligence exchange both regionally and nationally. The 
Center produces a monthly product that has been nationally 
recognized known as the Drug Monitoring Initiative (DMI) which 
provides data that is used across our societal spectrum for 
stakeholders dealing with the effects of illegal narcotics. 
This product has played a pivotal role in informing 
policymakers, guiding resources, and identifying areas of dire 
concern.
    The DMI would not be possible without the collaboration of 
numerous law enforcement and civilian partners from all levels 
of government and civilian communities. The NHIAC also supports 
the needs of sworn law enforcement agencies who are tasked with 
the enforcement of narcotics laws. Specifically, the NHIAC 
provides strategic analysis, case support, and intelligence 
exchange related to narcotics investigations.
    The Center has employees from agencies including but not 
limited to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department 
of Homeland Security, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking 
program, and several more. The NHIAC also benefits from several 
Federal grant programs, the Homeland Security Grant Program 
(HSGP), the Emergency Management and Preparedness Grant Program 
(EMPG) which respectively support the employment of local law 
enforcement and State analysts within the center.
    I want to highlight the value of the HSGP program in 
particular because it funds local law enforcement officers 
within the NHIAC who work with Intelligence Liaison Officers 
(ILO). The local relationships and knowledge that each ILO 
brings to the center is an invaluable resource to the 
intelligence collection and dissemination process within the 
State.
    The State Police Narcotics Investigations Unit has an 
incredibly dangerous job. However, they do not work 
unilaterally. Members of the NIU are assigned to various State 
and Federal task forces to include the FBI's Major Offender 
Task Force, the DEA's HIDTA Task Force, and the New Hampshire 
Attorney General's Task Force as well as the United States 
Postal Inspectors Task Force. The State Police is involved with 
Federal Task Forces because they act as a force multiplier and 
because they increase the communication and information 
exchange among all levels of law enforcement.
    The State of New Hampshire has limited resources, and as a 
result collaboration isn't just a concept but a necessity. The 
State Police has forged tremendously strong relationships 
within the law enforcement community that are all directed 
toward increasing the safety of New Hampshire residents and 
those who visit our State.
    The State Police NIU has been incredibly privileged to be 
the recipient of Federal grants and State grants. On the State 
level, the State Police receives funding through Operation 
Granite Shield which not only funds drug enforcement but also 
encourages joint enforcement operations. At the Federal level 
the State Police NIU has received funding from the COPS Anti-
Heroin Task Force Grants which have provided resources that 
would otherwise likely have not been attainable.
    We believe here in New Hampshire we have created a 
successful model for drug enforcement which consists of 
collaboration, dedication, and unity in the goal of protecting 
our communities and preserving life.
    Recently, this model for success was again exhibited by the 
New Hampshire law enforcement community, led by the Colonel of 
the New Hampshire State Police with the creation of the 
statewide methamphetamine enforcement incentive. The same model 
used to combat opiates was applied to the emerging trends of 
methamphetamine, and many similar gains have been seen.
    The State Police is proud of our enforcement and 
intelligence exchange efforts. However, we know that the 
successes and gains we have made in protecting society from the 
ills of narcotics are in large part only possible because of 
our partners and the support we received in the form of grant 
funding.
    I have been honored to speak this morning about the many 
progressive and successful drug enforcement efforts that the 
State Police and the State of New Hampshire law enforcement 
community currently participate in.
    It is truly important to my agency and me that each Member 
of this committee and anyone who hears this testimony 
understands that the New Hampshire State Police will always 
strive to improve the safety of our residents and our visitors, 
and further, we will continue to work toward carrying on the 
honorable traditions of the State Police that so many troopers 
in our history have sacrificed so much to uphold.
    With that, I thank you for the opportunity to testify, and 
I look forward to your questions.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you so much, Major. What we are going 
to do now is allow each of us rounds of questions. As I look at 
our timing, we have good time so this committee does 7-minute 
rounds of questions. We should be able to do at least a couple 
of rounds. I will ask you all to try to be relatively brief in 
your answers because we will be able to come back, and my hope 
is that at the end of the hearing to give you each an 
opportunity for any kind of closing comment you want to make. 
If something occurs to you and a question has not been directed 
right at you, you will get a chance to make the point, but also 
feel free to raise your hand if you want to add something.
    Let me start with a question to Special Agent Millhollin 
and Special Agent DeLena. You both discussed security along our 
Southern Border and how it affects communities in New 
Hampshire. Transnational Criminal Organizations operating out 
of Mexico smuggle drugs over the Southern Border before they 
are distributed across the country. What are Homeland Security 
Investigations and DEA doing to stop manufacturing of drugs 
such as fentanyl in Mexico? Are there particular challenges 
that you are encountering that Congress may be able to help 
alleviate?
    We will start with you, Special Agent Millhollin.
    Mr. Millhollin. Thank you for that question, and thank you, 
Chairwoman, for all your efforts to support HSI and efforts to 
support law enforcement throughout the years. We appreciate 
that.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you.
    Mr. Millhollin. As I spoke a little bit in my opening 
statement, HSI has over 80 offices in more than 50 countries. 
One of those offices is in Mexico. It is our largest overseas 
office. I had the pleasure of serving there for 4 years and 
overseeing not only our office in Mexico City but 7 outlying 
offices there which as you can imagine has a lot of 
difficulties that comes with it.
    One of the main ways that we work there is through our 
Transnational Criminal Investigative Units. These are vetted 
units provided by the Mexican government. They are local 
investigators that work directly with us on investigations of 
joint interest of the United States and Mexico. We recruit 
those folks. They come into our office. We train them, we send 
them to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia. 
We bring them back to Mexico after that extensive training and 
put them to work, fund them, and equip them with the things 
they need to do that.
    One of the unique ways that HSI works these types of cases 
is we really come in from a financial angle. We know and a lot 
of my colleagues say we can not interdict or seize our way out 
of this problem. We really have to attack those financial 
networks, take out the assets that these drug cartels have to 
really affect them. We do that through our vetted units in 
Mexico. We have had a lot of luck with that over the years.
    One area that we could really maybe use a little bit of 
help in is being able to pay those vetted unit members a salary 
supplement. Obviously, they come from agencies where they do 
not make a lot of money. To incentivize them to come over to 
our agency, to be able to recruit and retain the brightest 
folks from there would be very useful to us. Thank you for your 
question.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you. Special Agent DeLena.
    Mr. DeLena. Thank you, Madam Chair. It is obvious that the 
work in Mexico is vital to everything that is happening 
throughout the United States. It is the goal of DEA always to 
try to map these networks to take these investigations 
literally from Mexico to Main Street, and that's our goal every 
single time.
    We have a lot of challenges. The assistance that we could 
always seek is enhanced cooperation and collaboration with the 
Mexican government to build up our special investigative units 
as Mr. Millhollin talked about on the HSI front. We need to be 
able to collaborate with the Mexican military, the Mexican 
government, and Mexican law enforcement to be able to fully 
enhance these investigations as far as we can. What we are 
doing now in all 11 offices throughout Mexico is trying to 
target the highest level violators within the Sinaloa cartel 
and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) who ultimately are 
impacting the East Coast of the United States more than anybody 
right here in New Hampshire as well. It is those drugs that are 
ending up in all of our communities, and that is what we need 
to work to put a stop to.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you very much. This is a question to 
Assistant Director Manning. We have heard that a lot of the 
drugs and other contraband smuggled into the country are 
smuggling through ports of entry. Can you elaborate on how 
Customs and Border Protection targets and inspects cargo 
vehicles and passengers that it believes may be smuggling drugs 
across the border?
    Mr. Manning. CBP uses a multilayered enforcement approach 
to securing the borders. Using enhanced communication with our 
foreign and our local law enforcement, we use comprehensive 
training programs for our frontline officers and canines, and 
then we use the use of emerging technology to really put the 
best tools foward for our officers.
    We essentially look at the needle in a haystack. We deal 
with 490,000 passenger pedestrians a day and 98,000 trucks a 
day. What we are trying to do is use all those tools and 
resources to stop the nefarious actors, and let the lawful 
passengers and traffic and go through.
    It is critical for us that we need to look at our 
adversaries are continually getting better. They have unlimited 
resources. We have to look at the ports of the future. What's 
our goals and desires to get to have a modern port of entry and 
protect our borders. Currently we scan approximately 2 percent 
of all passenger vehicles and 15 percent of commercial 
vehicles.
    With modern technology and the support of Congress, we will 
be able to get to 40 percent and 70 percent by 2023. We need to 
look at the comprehensive modern port in the future, how we can 
really move that forward and in that time.
    Senator Hassan. Great. Are you able to do research about 
developing new technologies and solutions to interdict drugs 
that are crossing the border including drugs concealed on 
people? Do you have resources to kind of do the research and 
think ahead of the curve a bit?
    Mr. Manning. Yes, ma'am. We currently are piloting some 
technology in multiple places that is for actually looking at 
pedestrians. We are still piloting that right now and we are 
assessing the operational value of it. As far as our 
intelligence groups, we are continually working with our State 
and local partners to really get and to maximize the impact of 
our seizures. We can't seize our way out of this. We have to go 
after the networks. Every CBP seizure is an opportunity for our 
law enforcement partners to make a case and to take down a TCO 
and take down a gang.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you. I am going to yield the rest of 
my time and ask Congresswoman Kuster to start her rounds of 
questions.
    Mr. Kuster. Thank you, Senator Hassan, and thank you again 
for convening this incredibly important, fascinating but 
chilling presentation.
    I want to begin my remarks by thanking all of the Members 
and witnesses today for the discussion thus far on efforts to 
stop the flow of illicit drugs into the Granite State. In the 
recent final report from the Commission on Combatting Synthetic 
Opioid Trafficking, the Commission weighed the need to include 
a stronger understanding of the demand for opioids as a 
critical factor that attracts illegal suppliers. Congress 
established this commission to examine the causes of the influx 
of synthetic opioids to understand how to reduce the 
trafficking of the drugs and to identify solutions to mitigate 
a worsening overdose death crisis.
    The report concluded, and I quote, the supply of illicit 
fentanyl cannot be permanently stopped through enforcement 
alone, and a number of you have said we won't confiscate our 
way out of this. Only temporarily disruptive before another 
cartel, another trafficking method or analogue steps in to fill 
the market that addiction creates. The United States and 
Mexican efforts can disrupt the flow of synthetic opioids 
across the U.S. borders, but, and I emphasize, real progress 
can come only by pairing illicit synthetic opioid supply 
disruption with decreasing the domestic U.S. demand for these 
drugs.
    Ultimately, it is nearly impossible to reduce the 
availability of synthetic opioids through efforts solely 
focused on supply. In fact, it is the pull of demand that 
continues to drive supply. That is why I introduced the Stop 
Fentanyl Act which supports a comprehensive public health and 
safety approach to the epidemic through improved data sharing, 
investments in affordable fentanyl detection devices, and 
Department of Justice Forensic Laboratory Grants, policies that 
would improve access to overdose reversal drugs and to 
medication assistant treatment.
    Let me start with Ms. Arcieri. I appreciate that in your 
testimony you quoted Grafton County Attorney Hornick who 
stated, while we certainly cannot incarcerate our out of the 
opioid crisis, if we hold accountable those who prey on the 
addicted, we can hopefully start making progress in this fight.
    I could not agree more. We are not going to incarcerate out 
of the crisis. Much of our conversation this morning has 
appropriately focused on law enforcement and disrupting the 
supply of illicit drugs, but I would like to take this 
opportunity to look at the criminal justice system more broadly 
and discuss its role in reducing demand.
    As a second wave of the epidemic flooded our communities 
with heroin, Sullivan County here in New Hampshire was faced 
with incredibly high recidivism rates and an overcrowded jail. 
The Superintendent there had a decision to make. Spend $42 
million of taxpayer funds on building a new jail or 7 million 
to bring treatment into the existing jail. He decided on the 
latter, bringing medication-assisted treatment and mental 
health services into the jail to help those battling substance 
abuse disorder.
    Importantly, this approach also included social supports 
for the individuals for a year following their release, whether 
it be relocation services, job training, child care, snow 
tires, to enable them to continue on with their lives. This was 
a critical piece to ensuring the success of the justice 
involved. The result of bringing health care into the jail was 
a drop in the recidivism rate in Sullivan County from 54 
percent to 18 percent. By offering treatment and addressing the 
demand for illicit drugs, the cycle of addiction and 
incarceration ended. This approach saved lives and importantly 
saved taxpayer dollars.
    It was a similar situation when I visited the Concord 
Women's Prison right before Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) 
started. The majority of incarcerated woman in New Hampshire 
suffered from addiction, and one thing that I learned that day, 
100 percent of the inmates suffered from, and are victims of 
trauma--75 percent sexual assault, 25 percent domestic violence 
or abuse and neglect in their childhood. Though the prison is 
able to provide medication-assisted treatment for substance use 
disorder, greater investments in health care and coordinated 
support to ensure successful re-entry is key to breaking this 
cycle.
    This is the crux of the issue for me on the treatment side. 
Over 50 years ago, 1965, the Medicaid program was established. 
It did not allow for coverage of the justice-involved 
population. There is an exclusion. On the day a person enters 
into incarceration, they lose their health care coverage. Maybe 
in 1965 that assumption made sense. There would be an infirmary 
in the jail. They could fix a broken arm, give you Tylenol for 
headache, but that's not the case today as we face this 
addiction epidemic.
    The Medicaid Inmate exclusion is a Draconian policy that 
hurts those with substance abuse disorder, mental illness, and 
trauma who cycle in and out of our justice system at great 
expense to our society. There are currently 7 States who have 
applied for waivers to expand care to justice-involved 
individuals and my legislation will repeal the exclusion policy 
for every State and end this outdated policy that's fueling the 
cycle of addiction and incarceration.
    Again, Ms. Arcieri, thank you for your testimony today 
outlining some of the alternative programs to incarceration. 
Could you discuss what programs in the justice system you have 
been successful in supporting those struggling with substance 
use disorder and thereby reducing demand for illicit drugs. 
What have you seen work here in New Hampshire?
    Ms. Arcieri. I believe you are going off a different 
statement that I submitted, but----
    Ms. Kuster. I am sorry.
    Ms. Arcieri. That is quite all right if I can get to that. 
I do talk about that statement.
    I think to answer the question I talked about some of the 
alternative programs in that initial statement, and in theory, 
it's much needed. The issue that we have seen on a State level 
are the amount of times that someone is arrested and convicted 
and receiving suspended sentences. I can use an example of, 
from that initial statement that I had.
    Ms. Kuster. Are they able to get access to treatment or no?
    Ms. Arcieri. Yes, but they are still offending while they 
are in that program, in similar programs. When an offender 
continues to repeat offend, not just two times, three times and 
four times, there is no level of accountability, there's no 
deterrence with the repeat offenders, and what I'm advocating 
for is when we were encountering that situation that we hold 
them more accountable, and if that means that they are going to 
be incarcerated in either county jail or State prison and they 
have access to those programs, then that's successful or 
potentially can be successful.
    The issue with deterrence especially with what we do when 
we work with what we call informants, back in the days 10, 15 
years ago, there was a level of deterrence. When someone was 
arrested, they would cooperate with law enforcement in an 
active capacity, and there is no level there now. On what we do 
on the ground level, we need confidential informants or sources 
to provide us intelligence and information and also active in 
cooperation. Whether that's an individual making buys or 
introducing an undercover, that's simply not there so we don't 
have the intelligence and the active cooperation that we once 
did.
    What ends up happening is we start falling back on other 
investigative needs that are not as effective.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you. I am going to move on to 
Congressman Pappas now for his first round of questions.
    Mr. Pappas. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you again to our 
panel for your comments here today. I think many of you touched 
on the picture of in terms of substances coming into this 
country, coming into New Hampshire, is every changing. If we 
talked about 10 years ago, you might have been more focused on 
heroin. We know now that the focus is on fentanyl analogues, 
and meth among other substances, pills, and the way that it's 
getting here obviously continues to change and evolve.
    I wanted to zero in on the issue of fentanyl analogues and 
the legislation around permanent scheduling and maybe I could 
throw it open to the panel about why this tool will be 
important for law enforcement to be able to respond to this 
threat. We know that fentanyl and its analogues are a hundred 
times more potent than morphine. Clearly they are deadly 
substances that we can't tolerate. I am wondering if you can 
comment on the effort to achieve permanent scheduling for those 
analogues.
    Mr. DeLena. Sure, Congressman. I will jump in first. As I 
stated in my statement, 104,000 Americans died this past year 
of a drug overdose, 65 percent of which were attributed to 
fentanyl. We need to be able to move fast and fluidly. As you 
just said in your question, if we were here years ago, we may 
have been talking about prescription opioids, legitimate 
prescription opioids, and then fentanyl and then heroin, heroin 
mixed with fentanyl. It is constantly evolving. It is 
constantly changing. We, too, all of us here on this panel need 
to be able to move equally as fast as the criminal cartels do.
    As I said, their model is expansion and addiction. They 
have pushed drugs like crystal methamphetamine which was 
predominantly a West Coast drug to the East Coast. They have 
now pushed fentanyl which was an East Coast drug to the West 
Coast.
    We are seeing that, that expansion. We need to be able to 
respond in realtime to these ever changing analogues that they 
put forward so that's why it would be critically important for 
us here. Thank you.
    Mr. Manning. Going off of the realtime and the need for 
this to be as quickly as possible, we have deployed mobile 
operating labs in our mail facilities and in our largest border 
crossings so we can quickly and swiftly identify these 
substances and analogues and get them over to our investigative 
partners so they can start the cases on it. So yes.
    Mr. Pappas. Thanks very much. Maybe I could ask our State 
folks this question. Obviously, we have a number of individuals 
from local law enforcement represented here today. Can you talk 
about the interaction, we talked about partnership and 
collaboration and all the Task Forces that you all are a part 
of. Can you talk about the role that local law enforcement can 
play in these efforts and how we communicate with local law 
enforcement from the Federal level on down and if you feel like 
that's adequate and is working so that they understand at the 
street level and the community level how that threat is 
evolving and how they can be an important partner.
    Mr. Ebert. Congressman, I would be happy to try and answer 
that question. The first in terms of communication, a great 
deal of the communication that comes from the Federal 
Government is shared with our local partners through our Fusion 
Center, and I think it would be best to ask the local law 
enforcement themselves if they feel like they are getting that 
message clearly, but I certainly hope that they are, and that's 
a goal of us at the Fusion Center.
    In terms of our collaboration and cooperation with our 
local agencies, it is an invaluable resource. As I mentioned in 
my statement, we cannot conduct at the State level the 
enforcement efforts in dealing with narcotics that we need to 
in communities without the local knowledge first. The local 
police officers are often aware of the players who are involved 
as well as the areas that are areas of concern. Without that 
knowledge and without involving the local agencies, we simply 
can't get to where we need to be with enforcing the laws.
    Mr. Pappas. Thank you. Commander.
    Ms. Arcieri. On that note, too, as far as collaboration 
with the local law enforcement, I can use an example here. We 
have and throughout the State they have Chiefs meetings, if you 
will, or County Association meetings between the different law 
enforcement Police Chiefs and the Sheriffs in the community, 
and those are held monthly, sometimes every other month, and 
issues are discussed during that time with was what's going on 
in that community, in that county, whether it's personnel 
staffing, intelligence, legislative updates, legal updates, and 
so on and so forth, that kind of keeps us in the loop.
    In addition to that there's intelligence meetings for those 
different regions. A most recent example would be our Coos 
County where they had an intelligence meeting sponsored by 
State Police, and our DTF were able to get surveillance out on 
this individual that was threatening law enforcement. They 
communicated with local law enforcement, they were able to 
apprehend this individual after a high speed pursuit and take 
that individual into custody that had numerous firearms in the 
vehicle and also on his person. There's an example of how that 
information gets shared.
    Being a recent Police Chief myself in a small town, in 
Brentwood, what I found and I know that a lot of police chiefs 
in the area will probably say the same thing I'm about to tell 
you is that we are strapped with a critical shortage of law 
enforcement and constant turnover. One, because it takes a lot 
to be in this profession, and two, a lot of them are not able 
to be eligible to be in the profession. They can't get past the 
background investigation. They might not be able to pass a 
physical agility test. They might not be able to pass the oral 
board, the psychological examination, the polygraph, all that 
goes into it just to get in the door. Then we send them off to 
the Academy for 16 weeks, and we hope that they are able to 
sustain that. They come back to a small agency where they are 
paid $22 an hour to start and the average age is 21, 22, and we 
put them out there in the field training program as best as we 
can. We do the best job that we can with the training with the 
resources that we have.
    We put them through an extensive field training program and 
then when we get past that we put them out working midnight 
shifts because that's what they start out doing. We wish we had 
more supervision and mentoring, but we are so short-staffed 
that we don't have that available. We are asking these young 
officers to perform in highly critical crisis situations.
    I will use an example, when I was the Chief, I hired an 
individual when he was 22 years old. I swore him in which was 
great, was a very exciting time for him and his family, and his 
mother turned to me and said please keep him safe. I cannot 
tell you the awesome responsibility that resonated with me.
    Since that time he's had to cover suicides, he's had to 
administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as I have myself 
as a Police Chief if you just don't have the resources out 
there.
    You are the first responders reacting and responding to 
highly critical situations with domestics, assaults, mental 
health issues, and overdose epidemics. In the span of one year, 
that's what that officer has been exposed to. That is the 
plight of working in a small town in a local agency in the 
State of New Hampshire and probably nationwide.
    Mr. Pappas. Thank you for that perspective and sharing the 
important work that local law enforcement do here in New 
Hampshire. We are so grateful for it, and it's an important 
piece of this overall conversation. I will yield back so we can 
get to another round.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you, Congressman, and just a note to 
thank all of you, both State and Federal, but also all our 
local law enforcement for the extraordinary work you do in very 
difficult circumstances.
    I want to start my round with a question to Special Agents 
DeLena and Millhollin and Major Ebert. Parts of the drug trade 
have migrated to the internet, both through social media and on 
the dark web. I recently introduced a bipartisan bill with 
Senator Cornyn, the Dark Web Interdiction Act, which aims to 
strengthen the ability to go after drug trafficking on the dark 
web and increase penalties for using the dark web to sell 
deadly drugs.
    How are DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, and the New 
Hampshire State Police tackling the growing problem of the 
online drug trade and what more can Congress do to help, and we 
will start with you, Special Agent Millhollin.
    Mr. Millhollin. Thank you for that question, and thank you 
for that bill you introduced. I think that's going to be a 
really good thing.
    I think we combat this in a couple different ways. We have 
really unique undercover authorities through HSI to combat all 
cybercrime. The rise in the dark web is obviously one of those 
and one of those we are tracking very closely. We have several 
groups we are standing up throughout the United States that are 
targeting the dark crime exclusively, and as you know all 
transactions pretty much that happen on the dark web are with 
cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is increasingly coming into our 
investigations as something we are tracking. As far as many 
money laundering it's very difficult.
    To be able to recruit and retain the right people to work 
those types of investigations is a whole different applicant 
pool than we have ever looked into in the last 20 years. Being 
able to bring those people over, it's been tough, and that's 
something that we have been looking at is if we can get some 
kind of cyber incentive pay to bring those people over and make 
sure we are recruiting the best people from the private sector 
to do that.
    One other thing that I bring up with cryptocurrency is 
every country in the world has different regulations on how 
they handle cryptocurrency, United States as well, and so 
trying to streamline all those together is increasingly 
difficult to make significant investigations and inroads into 
those transnational criminal organizations.
    One way that we can possibly help tie those together is 
through some kind of global regulatory type of standards so 
that we could all start on the same level playing field. Then 
finally I would invite you to come down and see our Cyber 
Crimes Center in Fairfax, Virginia. It is a huge state-of-the-
art facility where you can kind of see what we are doing on the 
front line of the dark net right now.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you very much. Special Agent DeLena.
    Mr. DeLena. Thank you, Madam Hassan. Thank you for the 
question.
    As I mentioned in my statement, DEA launched the One Pill 
Can Kill initiative. A major part of that was trying to raise 
awareness to the drugs that were being sold on the internet and 
using social media apps that many children are commonly using 
every single day and buying pills that were unfortunately laced 
with fentanyl and in some cases, methamphetamine. But it's not 
just young people that are using that. Many Americans are going 
online to try to buy drugs at a cheaper price, prescription 
drugs that they may need. At the end of the day, they are being 
fooled as to what they end up getting. DEA's Special Operations 
Division, which is based in Virginia, works with all agencies 
throughout the government and many local partners as well to 
try to expand the investigations that we are doing domestically 
and internationally. Obviously, we would like to host you there 
at any time to get in and see exactly what's going on inside 
the Special Operations Division.
    With over 71 nations and 91 different cities represented by 
DEA, it's imperative that all of us are enhancing our cyber 
capabilities, but this, too, as Special Agent Millhollin 
mentioned is difficult. It is not easy to attract the right 
applicants at all times and to be able to train them. We also 
need the equipment to be able to keep up with these billion 
dollar cartels who don't have those challenges or those 
difficulties. They get the best equipment when they want it and 
in the government, sometimes that can be a challenge.
    Senator Hassan. For sure. Major.
    Mr. Ebert. Thank you for the question, Senator. At the 
State level, we found our greatest level of success in 
combatting dark web purchases from partnering with our Federal 
partners. Most notably, the Drug Enforcement Agency but also 
more recently the United States Postal Inspection Service.
    It is very important to highlight that although the 
procedure in which drugs are purchased on the dark web is 
incredibly difficult to track down, those drugs have to make 
their way into our country in one mechanism or another. We 
found that trying to interdict them at the shipping point can 
be successful. We have assigned troopers to that Task Force in 
hopes that will stem the tide of illegal drugs that are coming 
through dark web purchases.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you, and that leads into my next 
question because I was going to ask Assistant Director Manning 
and Special Agent Millhollin about the work you are all doing 
with the Postal Service as well because we know that Customs 
border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations work 
with the Postal Inspection Service. Can you talk about your 
work with the Postal Service and private sector partners to 
investigate and disrupt drug trafficking facilitated by mail or 
parcel delivery, and are there additional resources or data 
sources you need to more effectively target and interdict drugs 
trafficked through the mail and express delivery services?
    We will start with you, Assistant Director Manning, and 
then go to Special Agent Millhollin.
    Mr. Manning. We work hand in hand with the Postal Service. 
We have actually recently we have four Postal Service employees 
that are embedded in our centers. We have a data scientist, a 
postal inspector and two analysts. As they mentioned before, we 
need to make sure that we are doing everything in our power to 
get the information into our system so we can identify illicit 
packages as they are coming through. The Synthetics Trafficking 
and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act has helped us significantly. 
We have seen fentanyl basically stop coming through the mail, 
and it's coming down the Southern Border, and we continue to 
work with our investigative partners to continue to get that 
information into our systems.
    To go back to our State and local partners, even the local 
information we get is the local smallest investigation in the 
small town, we are able to actually identify and take down 
whole dark websites based off of that information we get and 
put in our systems, but all hand in hand with HSI and postal 
inspectors.
    Senator Hassan. Great. Thank you.
    Mr. Millhollin. We work this hand in hand through our 
Border Enforcement Security Task Force. We have only 80 of 
these Task Forces throughout the United States. We have over 
2000 Task Force officers from State and local departments 
assigned to that. We have them located in all the international 
mail facilities so that they can work the follow up 
investigation of anything that CBP is seizing at those 
facilities.
    One of the ways that we work obviously is through the 
Postal Inspection Service. Work very closely with them. They 
are on all those Task Forces. Operation Die Another Day, I 
think you have been briefed on was an operation we worked for a 
long time through our best units that was targeting the 
importation of pill presses that were coming into our 
communities, being able to press these small fentanyl pills. We 
had a lot of success with that. One of the areas that we 
struggle a little bit on is to get the right people from those 
State and local agencies on to those Task Forces. A lot of the 
departments aren't able to give up those people that we need. 
To be able to pay their salary, and it would be very helpful 
for us to be able to supplement those local departments and 
make sure they are on these Task Forces.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you very much. We are hearing a 
significant and important theme which is resources and people, 
and people are the most important resource along with the 
technology and the other things we have talked about. 
Congresswoman.
    Mr. Kuster. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I wanted to echo 
that comment. Every single one of you at every level from the 
smallest towns like a Brentwood Chief of Police all the way up 
through to State and Federal and all of these agencies have 
talked about workforce, recruitment, training, equipment, 
retention, right down to the hourly wage. Right up to the most 
sophisticated new techniques in cryptocurrency and the dark 
web, and clearly the three of us here are here today to 
understand your needs for funding, funding the police at every 
level, and I think that's a really important theme today, and 
you have our strong support.
    I want to turn to Mr. DeLena if I could. I serve on the 
House Energy and Commerce Committee, and recently we heard from 
both the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Drug 
Enforcement Agency on the administration's recommendations as 
Representative Pappas mentioned on the scheduling of fentanyl-
related substances.
    The Office of National Drug Control Policy emphasized the 
need for a comprehensive approach to addressing fentanyl 
analogues, and I know our Task Force had a hearing a few years 
back with the DEA, and I remember the testimony was just 
chilling. They were talking about criminal chemists in China at 
that time that were literally changing one molecule and getting 
around our scheduling.
    The COVID pandemic has shown the value in realtime data 
availability and exchange when faced with a crisis. Knowing the 
number of cases, the types of cases, the number of vaccines, 
number of tests, et cetera. We know the number of COVID-19 
cases and deaths the very next day. Yet we still wait months 
for overdose data and critical information on the development 
of new and more powerful drugs.
    How can we better access data on synthetic opioids quickly 
in both the public safety and the public health space? I will 
ask you, and if then there are others that want to weigh in on 
that, that would be very helpful. What resources do you need 
from us for that?
    Mr. DeLena. Congresswoman, thank you for the question. 
Working for Administrator Milgram, it is very clear that one of 
her binding principles is the expansion of data in all that we 
do every day, and she is bringing that forward to DEA every 
single day.
    When thinking about your question, a few things immediately 
jump out to me. We constantly need to find ways to connect, and 
while New Hampshire is the gold standard for collaboration as 
you see from the people here in this room, we need to be able 
to do that throughout the entire United States and throughout 
all of our offices. DEA needs to be able to collect the 
prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), information from 
local States which will help us get a better look at who is 
getting drugs prescribed to them, either illicitly or legally 
in some cases.
    But we need to map the overdose data. That's challenging. 
While New Hampshire again was ahead of everybody in terms of 
how we do that and a lot of that comes from the Information and 
Analysis Center that Major Ebert talked about, it's the data of 
overdose responses and Narcan administration. We need to be 
able to look at that, to take that holistic approach to how we 
can better serve all of our communities. We talk about Narcan 
and being administered throughout New Hampshire, but sadly, 
most of that Narcan is going into communities and neighborhoods 
and to people who are dealing with what they think is opioid 
and fentanyl abuse.
    We are seeing now polydrug use where cocaine is being 
illicitly laced with fentanyl. We are seeing clusters of 
overdoses in locations throughout the United States where 
people are thinking they are taking cocaine only to find out 
that somewhere in that supply chain somebody added fentanyl to 
it. We need to make sure that we are getting that information 
in realtime to the law enforcement communities but also to our 
leaders so that we can ensure things like Narcan and naloxone 
ends up in the right hands.
    Mr. Kuster. Anyone else want to comment on resources needed 
for data sharing?
    Mr. Ebert. Congresswoman, I will mention that Special Agent 
DeLena brought up a great point in terms of being able to 
quickly disseminate that information. I think in terms of the 
more information that can be shared with us in realtime the 
more that those barriers can be broken down.
    We are always looking to balance personal privacy with the 
need to get law enforcement out information, and though I won't 
point to a specific item, I can certainly say having overseen 
the intelligence unit that there are many barriers that exist 
where the line between personal privacy and intelligence 
exchanges is very difficult.
    I would say continued support from Congress to help us 
break down those barriers, to always keep in mind personal 
privacy and the need for that, but to really push for getting 
the information realtime as fast as we can to our Fusion 
Centers so we can disseminate that out to all of our law 
enforcement partners.
    Mr. Kuster. Hopefully, there were lessons that can be 
learned from COVID 19 and from data collection, and there were 
privacy issues there as well, and we overcame them in the face 
of a highly contagious pandemic. I hope we can overcome them in 
the face of what is determined to be a deadly crisis as well, 
and with that I will yield back.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you, Congresswoman Kuster and 
Congressman Pappas. You are recognized for your round of 
questions.
    Mr. Pappas. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to thank you for 
submitting that legislation in the Senate on the dark web issue 
because I have heard about that in communities here in New 
Hampshire. You have all identified why that is a serious issue. 
With your agreement we will work to submit that in the House to 
make sure the other side of the Capitol could see some action 
on it.
    Senator Hassan. That would be great.
    Mr. Pappas. I want to zero in on the issue of China. It's 
been mentioned here a number of times. This is a situation 
where the picture in China is changing in terms of what we are 
seeing flow into Mexico and into the United States. I am 
wondering if you all have some comments if we could start with 
you, Mr. Millhollin, on the role that China plays in the drug 
supply chain.
    Mr. Millhollin. Thanks for the question. As we remember at 
the beginning of this epidemic, fentanyl was coming into the 
United States directly from China. A little bit of diplomatic 
pressure changed that and it was going directly into Mexico and 
being smuggled into the United States.
    Now what we are seeing is that is not happening anymore. 
Precursor chemicals are coming directly into Mexico and now 
what we see is pre-precursor chemicals coming directly into 
Mexico that are then being synthesized to bring that fentanyl 
into the United States.
    One way that we have been able to make some significant 
inroads is this is through Operation Hydra. It is a complex 
financial operation that HSI runs analyzing financial 
transactions between multiple countries including the United 
States, Mexico, and China to be able to target those precursor 
chemicals coming into Mexico from China. We have been able to 
seize over one million pounds of those precursor chemicals in 
the last several years.
    One recent seizure out of our Mexico City office was 750 
kilograms of a precursor that when that was converted to 
fentanyl within 14,000 kilograms of fentanyl, 30 thousands 
pounds. Can you imagine that's more fentanyl in that one 
seizure than was seized on the whole Southwest Border in the 
last year. That's one shipment.
    But I think it is also important to keep our eyes on that. 
If we can stop China from bringing these precursor chemicals 
into Mexico, the cartels are going to divert to another 
country. India has significant supplies of these precursor 
chemicals that they could bring in right away, too, so I think 
we have to keep identifying these other countries and keep 
pushing out our borders where we can.
    Mr. DeLena. Thank for the question, Congressman, and I 
thought my partner here answered really well. I thought back 
though to a time that I traveled to Mexico, I see Marshal 
Willard here, and we took some police executives from New 
England down into Mexico to try to understand exactly just how 
big this threat is, and we had the occasion to go into a lab, a 
production lab in the jungle, and, the amount of chemicals with 
labels from China that were throughout that entire process was 
absolutely incredible.
    We do work hard trying to stop the flow of those illicit 
chemicals as they are leaving China, as they are arriving in 
Mexico. Obviously, we are targeting the highest level violators 
in Mexico to try to disrupt those chemicals from ever getting 
in those hands, but as I said earlier, with this move to 
synthetics they don't have to worry about a grow cycle, a grow 
season or a plant product, and that has been a complete game 
changer to the amount of drugs that they are producing, and 
ultimately what we are seeing right here at home in New 
Hampshire.
    Mr. Pappas. Thank you for your comments about that threat, 
and I look forward to continuing the conversation about how we 
can help. I will yield back my time.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you very much, Congressman. I have 
more questions. I will do them for about a 7-minute round, and 
then we will see if you guys have any follow up. Does that make 
sense? You are welcome to a full another round.
    I wanted to give Major Ebert and Commander Arcieri an 
opportunity here with your Federal colleagues at the table and 
with a number of Federal and State and local folks and us here. 
We talk a lot about the importance of coordination and 
information sharing between and among Federal, State, and local 
law enforcement including outside task forces, and how 
important that is, but from your perspective, how effective has 
the coordination and information sharing been between Federal 
law enforcement and State and local law enforcement in New 
Hampshire, what are the primary drivers of success, what were 
the obstacles to effective coordination and information 
sharing, and last, anything Congress can do to help.
    We will start with you, Major, and then Commander Arcieri.
    Mr. Ebert. Certainly. Thank you for the question, Senator. 
I think the most important thing for this panel and anybody who 
hears this testimony to know is that here in the State of New 
Hampshire, I think we all really pride ourselves on 
collaboration at all levels. I know the representatives from 
all the Federal agencies by first name as does everyone else 
who is in law enforcement. I know them by face. I know them to 
know that if I need them, if I need resources from them, the 
State Police needs collaboration from them, they are going to 
provide that. I can't emphasize enough that here in the State 
of New Hampshire because it is such a small law enforcement 
community, we do collaborate across every spectrum.
    In terms of information exchange and intelligence exchange, 
I would say that we have an optimum model for that intelligence 
exchange. We really have very, very few barriers with our 
Federal partners in receiving that information and then 
disseminating it out to partners who are on a need-to-know 
basis.
    In terms of what Congress may be able to do to try to 
support us, I think there's two distinct areas that come to 
mind.
    The first is the voice of a Congresswoman, a Congressman, 
or a Senator carries so much weight and that unified voice in 
support of law enforcement goes a tremendously long way. We 
really need this. At this moment where there is so much 
criticism of law enforcement, that supportive voice lends 
itself to improving the morale of the rank and file law 
enforcement. The first thing I would say is that united voice 
in support of law enforcement.
    The second thing is long-term funding. What we typically 
will see is a 2 or 3 year grant which is tremendous. It is 
tremendous. It gets us training, gets us equipment, but what it 
does not allow for us to do is to ask for positions because as 
certainly the three of you know, we need to absorb those 
positions into the State budget at the end of the Federal 
grant, and it's simply too short a period of time, a 2 or 3-
year window for the New Hampshire legislature to pass a budget 
that will then absorb those positions in. Longer term structure 
of funding would be tremendously helpful to give the New 
Hampshire legislature time to absorb those positions in.
    Senator Hassan. All right. Commander, your thoughts?
    Ms. Arcieri. I would say for the most part we have done a 
very good job with sharing information. I used the example of a 
recent investigation that we had that started on our level 
which was undercover street level purchases, and by recognizing 
the importance and where we could take that investigation, we 
employed the services of State Police and DEA. That is not done 
in an isolated circumstance. A lot of it is information sharing 
and making it happen. A lot of meetings to share the 
information and deciding who is going to have what 
responsibilities in these different investigations. That is 
critical for the success of what we do.
    As I mentioned before, we have regular intelligence 
meetings which are attended by local, State, county officials, 
and Federal officials as well so we are all on the same page as 
far as what we are facing in each different area.
    As far as what the Federal Government would be able to 
provide to law enforcement, I am going to mirror what Major 
Ebert had said, being the leaders and fostering an environment 
of greater accountability in the criminal justice services with 
repeat offenders. Many in the law enforcement community would 
agree that there needs to be more emphasis on effective 
rehabilitation programs with drug addicted offenders.
    However, when offenders are arrested and convicted numerous 
times and receiving suspended sentences on all convictions, it 
does not foster a level of deterrence, and I think what goes 
along with that is the recruitment and retainment issue that we 
have in law enforcement. To be able to provide more support in 
that area.
    The other area that I would like to address in addition to 
what Major Ebert had addressed which pretty much follows suit 
with the Drug Task Force is we have many senior officers, if 
you will, that are now retired or getting ready to retire that 
have 20-plus years of experience which is very critical. When 
they retire, a lot of them leave the profession, and they are 
not able to give back. On a State level, when they retire, they 
are limited to 26 hours a week generally speaking if they want 
to come back into the profession. It used to 32 hours. Having 
26 hours a week is very difficult.
    If we could have some insight as to the importance of 
having those retired officers, if you will, one of my best 
investigators, employees, is a retired officer, and he brings a 
level of experience and especially in these critical times 
where you have young officers as I talked about, they need a 
great level of mentoring and supervision, and we get that with 
our senior officers that are getting ready to retire.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you. I have a couple of more 
questions, but let me also thank not only all of you but all of 
the men and women in law enforcement, and if there is one thing 
that I hear from Granite Staters on a regular basis it is how 
grateful they are to you and the men and women you work with 
for the work you do keeping our communities safe.
    I will also note that you go into just about any community 
in New Hampshire and right at the forefront of whatever 
community work needs to be done is a member of law enforcement 
just pitching in, whether it's coaching a team or whether it is 
helping at a food bank. We are deeply appreciative for the work 
you do, and we are also appreciative to your families because 
very few of us have a job where our loved ones have to worry 
whether we are going to come home safe at night. We are all 
really grateful to your families, too.
    Let me follow up with a couple of more questions. Then I 
will check in with my colleagues and I will give you guys a 
chance to, my final question for you all so you can be thinking 
about it is just if you had one recommendation for us all to 
take away for today what would that be. We will do one final 
round with all of you.
    I want to follow up though first with a question to Special 
Agent DeLena because 6 months ago, Special Agent, I wrote a 
letter to DEA Administrator Milgram about the dangerous rise in 
counterfeit pills which are often indistinguishable from 
legitimate medication but as you pointed out can be laced with 
dangerous drugs like meth and fentanyl. People think they are 
getting a legitimate prescription medication, and they are not.
    That letter that I sent was based on a WMUR News 9 report 
that featured you talking about how this issue keeps you up at 
night, and that really stood out to me, especially because 
these pills are often marketed to teenagers usually as we have 
discussed over social media.
    I spoke with Administrator Milgram about this issue a few 
months ago, but I am hoping to hear from you about how this 
issue has evolved over the past 6 months and what we are now 
seeing on the ground in terms of counterfeit pills. It was 
great to hear, Special Agent Millhollin, that we have had some 
success with going after the pill presses, but can you just 
talk to me, Special Agent DeLena, about what you are now seeing 
on the ground?
    Mr. DeLena. Thank you for the question, Chair Hassan. I 
remember exactly when I said those words, and I remember that 
interview very well. We had been seeing pills in New Hampshire 
laced with fentanyl, but it was really the influx of the pills 
laced with methamphetamine targeting children to look exactly 
like an Adderall that I thought was an insidious move on behalf 
of these drug cartels to target young Americans.
    It is widely known that it's young people throughout our 
country that appropriately use Adderall, but in some cases 
unfortunately they abuse Adderall, and those pills are traded 
around and passed around throughout our colleges, high schools, 
and even our middle schools.
    When I saw the amount of those pills that were crossing 
throughout New England but particularly here in New Hampshire, 
it troubled me more than anything I had seen or experienced in 
my entire career. They are coming after our kids, make no 
mistake about it, it's this relentless move toward widespread 
addiction, and that's exactly how these cartels are trying to 
achieve that, and going back to something that, Congresswoman 
Kuster, that you talked about with us needing to do more in 
terms of prevention, to limit the demand that is exactly what 
the One Pill Can Kill campaign was designed to do.
    First of all, the Administrator and all of DEA knew, we 
needed to very quickly educate Americans about how deadly and 
dangerous these pills are. That was the first part of that. We 
needed to educate them on how easy these pills are being 
manufactured to look identical to a prescription drug. The 
exact same color, weight to it, marking, scoring, everything 
that you can imagine, they have figured it out. Sadly, these 
pills are widespread throughout all of our communities. That is 
why I said at the time and it still continues to keep me up at 
night. More than anything I have prided myself on the amount of 
work that we have done in the prevention world here in New 
Hampshire trying to connect to those young people, and that's 
why we did that Virtual Summit at the time, and I wish it could 
have been in person. That is why in 2017 we had the nation's 
first ever Youth Opioid Summit right here in Manchester, New 
Hampshire. We need to continue to message across all 
communities just how deadly and pervasive those drugs are. We 
can't stop.
    One thing I'm very proud of in the work that I have been 
doing recently is I am seeing across the entire nation where 
communities are still talking about One Pill Can Kill, and how 
we are linking those back to social media companies, to the 
internet, but also toward local manufacturing and distribution. 
Americans need to be aware that this is a problem. There are a 
lot of people who sadly think they are immune from this crisis 
simply because they are not injecting themselves with fentanyl. 
That is what they attribute that sort of addiction to. They 
need to know it is in the form of pills, and now more than ever 
it's being laced into other drugs that we have seen such as 
cocaine.
    Senator Hassan. All right. Thank you. I am going to ask one 
another question, check in with my colleagues, and then give 
you each a couple of minutes at the end.
    The other question I had was to Special Agent Millhollin 
and Special Agent DeLena about field testing for narcotics in 
particular, and our other witnesses are also welcome to chime 
in here. The evolution of the types of drugs being smuggled 
into New Hampshire communities as well as their purity exposes 
Task Force personnel to ever increasing risk. Obviously to 
Border Protection, too, but I want to drill down a little bit 
on the Task Force issue.
    Field testing equipment can help law enforcement personnel 
quickly identify dangerous drugs so that they can respond 
appropriately. However, while Task Force personnel generally 
have access to field testing equipment used to identify 
dangerous drugs, Task Force personnel may not have this 
equipment readily available for all operations. How would 
universal access to field testing equipment improve operational 
efficiency and effectiveness for your Task Forces. Are there 
other tools that your Task Forces need which Congress could 
provide resources for. Start with you, Special Agent.
    Mr. Millhollin. Thank you for that question. I mentioned 
earlier Border Enforcement Task Forces have about 2000 
different State and local officers assigned to them. Generally 
when they seize narcotics, those are processed through either a 
CBP or a DEA lab. As you can imagine there's back loads in 
those labs and multiple agencies, not only Federal but State 
and local that use those labs. Turnaround times can get pretty 
long.
    With the rise in fentanyl and opioids, obviously having 
field testing equipment on hand to be able to test those 
narcotics is not only beneficial for the investigation but for 
officer safety so we know immediately what we have in our 
hands. We started trying to equip some of those 80 Border 
Enforcement Task Forces with mobile device testing. Those come 
at about $20,000 per item. We have 10 of our best teams that 
have those now, but we would like to expand those to our other 
80. I was told there wouldn't be any math questions. I think 
that's maybe 1.5 million or so dollars so any help that comes 
would be great.
    Mr. DeLena. Madam Chair, thank you for the question, and, 
while I agree it is so important to get those type of devices 
into the hands of the men and women of law enforcement who are 
encountering these drugs on the street every day, we also to 
have keep in mind how rapidly evolving those drugs are, and 
having worked here in New Hampshire now and actually thinking 
back to the last Field Hearing on Drugs was about 6 years and 6 
months almost to the day that was hosted here in New Hampshire, 
and I think how much has changed just in that amount of time. 
It really has. These drugs continue to evolve.
    We also need to make sure that the technology evolves along 
with it so that if we do invest in these type of devices, and 
we have invested in many, they don't become a paperweight 
because the drugs quickly evolve and it's not something that 
that certain device can test.
    I also want to mention that it was Senator Shaheen who 
pushed so hard for funding for the Drug Enforcement 
Administration to create a new lab which is coming here to New 
Hampshire which I think will be a game changer for us to be 
able to have that proximity of a lab to quickly get substances 
tested for all of our State, local, and Federal partners.
    Because especially there are investigations where we need a 
timely answer. That successful prosecution can quickly be met. 
I think that's a great step for us, and we look forward to the 
opening of that lab in the future.
    Senator Hassan. Great. Commander.
    Ms. Arcieri. Presently, each team has a Trunarc analyzer 
which we have used quite frequently. My recommendation would be 
for the smaller agencies that don't have the funding to have 
access to those analyzers. We certainly when we get the call we 
go and we do what we need to do, and most recently we did that 
in a case in Lebanon, New Hampshire, where the police 
department up there seized some Adderall, it appeared to be 
Adderall, and it was tested and in fact it was fentanyl.
    We provided that service to that community. However, there 
are a lot of other communities that can probably use that 
Trunarc themselves.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you very much.
    Before I turn to the panel of witnesses final 
recommendations, do either of my colleagues have anything you 
want to follow up on? All right. We will do closings in a 
minute.
    My final question to the witnesses is what is one 
recommendation each of you want to highlight for policymakers 
on how to better support law enforcement efforts to fight drug 
trafficking, and you have made a lot of them so if you feel 
like you have said your piece, that's fine, but please go 
ahead, and we will just go right down the line starting with 
you, Special Agent Millhollin.
    Mr. Millhollin. I would highlight briefly, I know you have 
done a lot of work to make sure this agency is fully funded in 
their new inspection equipment along the south borders worse. I 
think by 2026 We will be scanning most vehicles and cargo 
equipment coming into the United States. With that, obviously 
HSI responds to all seizures of contraband at every port of 
entry. We think that we will see significant increases in the 
seizures there and obviously we need additional personnel there 
so I would like to bring that to your attention.
    Senator Hassan. That's great. Assistant Director.
    Mr. Manning. I want to thank you for your continued support 
of CBP, the investment in the infrastructure in the ports of 
entry on the Southern Border and also the Northern Border is 
critical. We need to stay up to date and ahead of our 
adversaries to continue to make these seizures and protect 
these communities. Anything you can do to continue just to fund 
this infrastructure would be great. Appreciate it.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you. Special Agent DeLena.
    Mr. DeLena. Madam Chair, thank you. I think it's important 
that this type of collaboration and conversation continues. 
There are a lot of other men and women in law enforcement who 
can probably fill these chairs equally and tell their story 
which are all equally important, but there's 104,000 Americans 
dying of a drug overdose every single year. 286 a day. We need 
to continue to fully fund these agencies so that we can keep up 
with the ever-evolving drug cartels in terms of staffing and 
equipment. Thank you.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you. Commander.
    Ms. Arcieri. On that note, to follow up, as I mentioned 
before, with the mission of the Drug Task Force is the street 
level narcotics investigations, the ones that are plaguing the 
small communities that don't have their resources. On that note 
is the pervasive attitude throughout New Hampshire that drug 
users do not fit the description of serious drug traffickers 
which is accurate. Although these individuals may not be 
trafficking in major quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine 
by definition as the level we talked about here on the Federal 
level, these individuals are the ones who are directly 
supplying the victims of overdoses of fentanyl and heroin, many 
leading to deaths.
    To illustrate this point, within the last several months in 
one community alone a DTF investigation yielded the arrest of 
two individuals suspected of trafficking quantities of fentanyl 
and heroin. By definition, they were drug misusers, if you 
will. However, by one of the suspect's own admission, it was 
determined that this individual had distributed approximately 
182,000 bags, individual bags, of fentanyl and heroin over the 
period of a year.
    That's what I would like to leave the panel with today is 
that's what this State is confronting right now are those users 
that are addicted, and there's no question that we need to have 
better rehabilitation programs without a doubt, but these 
individuals are the ones that are trafficking these quantities 
of drugs that are causing the opiate epidemic that we have in 
this State with the number of overdoses and death resulting 
from the overdoses. I would like to leave with just that 
picture.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you.
    Ms. Arcieri. I want to thank you for taking the time to 
administer this panel.
    Senator Hassan. Commander, I appreciate it very much. 
Major?
    Mr. Ebert. I want to thank the Panel again for the 
opportunity to be here today. It is truly a honor, and I 
figured I would close with something that didn't cost any 
money, and it was something that I said earlier that I really 
want to reemphasize.
    As of late there have been those in the community that have 
sought to demonize law enforcement, and this has caused 
tremendous ill effects through the law enforcement system. 
Retention and recruitment have been hindered by it, and what I 
would ask is that, Senator, you are truly the gold standard of 
support for law enforcement. You were as the Governor, you 
continue to be as a Senator, and what I would ask is that the 
Senator's conduct and statements on law enforcement just be 
echoed by your colleagues so that we can continue to recruit 
good people into this profession who want to do it for the 
right reason. They want to do it because it's a noble 
profession. We want to break down that barrier, that stigma 
that has been attached to it.
    In closing, I would ask for the collective support of 
Congress for a positive review of law enforcement, and where 
there are issues that we need to work with, know that we are 
always willing to have that conversation. Thank you again.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you, Major, very much. I am now going 
to turn to my colleagues for any closing remarks that they 
have, and then, as promised, by 11:25 or so we will wrap up.
    Mr. Kuster. Great. I will be brief. I have so many things 
going through my mind right now, but just to start where you 
left off, my father-in-law who is no longer with us was a 
policeman, and I think he would be proud, we are all proud of 
your exemplary service and the way you presented the challenges 
of your profession today, and please know that all of us are 
here to support you, to fund the police, to make sure you have 
the resources you need for recruitment and retention and 
equipment and everything we have discussed today.
    The Senator mentioned your families, and I want to make 
sure that I echo that as well. I will say personally I never 
expected my own life to be in danger until January 6, 2021 and 
it was a Capitol Hill policeman that saved my life, and I'm 
very grateful for that.
    This hearing today hits very close to home for many of us 
and many of our colleagues, and I can just say out of 435 house 
members, dozens of our colleagues have lost family members to 
drug overdose death. For me, it hits very close to home. I just 
spent a week with my own brother out on the West Coast who is 
in surgery trying to help him through but the understanding 
issue is sadly addiction, and it comes from prescribed 
medication.
    It is very challenging, and I appreciate everything that 
you are doing, and everything that everyone in the treatment 
community is doing, and I want to say that's my commitment to 
it. It's as though it's your family, it is, and my family, and 
it's very hard to go up against Mexican cartels and criminal 
chemists in China and true evil that is profiting at the 
expense of our communities. I thank you, thank your families, 
we are here to support you. We are working very hard at it. 
Thank you.
    Senator Hassan. Congressman Pappas.
    Mr. Pappas. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you again to the 
Panel for your contributions today, the intellectual resources 
that you are providing to us to make sure that we are 
responding in a way that is appropriate, but also just for your 
work day in and day out, and I know the people of New Hampshire 
are so grateful for what our law enforcement community does, 
and I think this panel, myself included, is very grateful for 
what law enforcement does day in and day out. There's a lot 
that falls under that umbrella. It's not just the core 
functions or maybe what's on the job description, but it's 
everything else, and just about every problem that we have in 
society falls in front of our police officers and law 
enforcement here in New Hampshire, and we continue to ask you 
all to do more, to take greater risks, and to respond, and we 
have to make sure we are backing you up with the resources and 
support that you all need to do your job even more effectively, 
to provide things like greater training and just greater 
funding to be able to keep people in place to grow the force, 
to increase professionalism and to be able to respond to 
everybody that is going on out there in the community.
    I have no doubt that you all are incredible, capable 
partners, and I hope we can continue to spread that message as 
best as possible and make sure more folks are interested in 
pursuing this profession because our community, our country, is 
really depending on that.
    There is some good news in the appropriation bill that 
passed recently. It's about a 200 million dollar increase for 
Border Control in that bill, a 16 percent increase for the 
technology that's being deployed at the ports of entry, full 
funding for programs like the Byrne Grant and the COPS program 
that I know our State and local partners are really drawing on 
support from.
    We have to continue to grow those numbers because we know 
the threat is evolving, the threat continues to grow, and as 
Congresswoman Kuster mentioned, we all measure the impact of 
this drug crisis in a very personal way, and you can't put a 
price tag on someone's life. You can measure it in terms of a 
person who's not showing up at work anymore because they have 
been lost or a friend or a family member who unfortunately has 
succumbed or a grandparent who is raising a grandchild because 
their parents are no longer there. That's what we see all 
across New Hampshire, and we want to make sure that we are 
doing all we can to support your work and support all the great 
community initiatives that are creating pathways for people to 
have a healthy and safe future.
    Thank you for that, look forward to staying in touch, and 
thank you, Senator Hassan, for convening this.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you very much, Congressman Pappas. I 
will add my thanks to those of my colleagues and frankly to the 
people of the Granite State who I know if they were here with 
us would be thanking each and every one of you for the work you 
do.
    I will add to Congressman Pappas and Congresswoman Kuster's 
thoughts about the importance of the work you are doing and 
what a difference it makes to people all across our State and 
all across our country.
    Relatively soon after I became a Senator, I visited with 
some families who either had lost somebody to opioid addiction 
or people who were in recovery, and as I was leaving this 
meeting which was in a church in one of our towns, there was a 
little girl I had been introduced to at the beginning of the 
meeting and she was hovering around the edge. You know how 
grownups always like push kids forward and say go talk to the 
Senator, and she was hesitant.
    I asked her to walk me out to my car, and I asked her if 
there was something she wanted to talk to me about, and she 
said yes, 9 years old, she said Senator I just wanted you to 
know what my life is like since my favorite cousin died of an 
overdose. He was 19. I was so proud of this 9-year-old little 
girl for having the wherewithal to figure out a way to pull her 
Senator aside to tell her that, but boy, I wish that 9 year old 
had never have to have that conversation with me, and I know 
all of you do, too.
    With that, we are extraordinarily grateful for your 
service. The urgency that you all feel, and it came right 
through here today, is urgency that we need to maintain because 
of the impact that these deadly drugs particularly now that 
they can be manufactured with synthetics so quickly. We have to 
keep at this with everything we have. You all are on the front 
lines. So are the men and women that you lead, and we are very 
grateful to all of you.
    Thank you for your insight this morning. Your testimony 
here today will help us craft better bipartisan solutions to 
help Federal, State, and local law enforcement fight drug 
trafficking in our communities.
    The record for this hearing will remain open for 15 days 
until 5 p.m. on March 29th for submissions of statements and 
questions for the record, and with that this hearing is 
adjourned.
    [Whereupon at 11:30 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

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