Border Officials Bust Drug Traffickers Concealing Fentanyl in a Hamburger

Drug traffickers appear to be getting more creative in their efforts to smuggle dangerous narcotics into the United States. In a recent twist, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials intercepted traffickers attempting to conceal fentanyl in a hamburger.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at El Paso area ports of entry seized a large amount of drugs being smuggled into the country in novel ways. One female was caught hiding fentanyl inside her body, another in a hamburger.

In the past two weeks, CBP El Paso POE agents seized more than 62 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 25 pounds of fentanyl, and more than 158 pounds of marijuana.

The hamburger scheme is part of a broader pattern of smugglers trying innovative ways to get drugs into the country. There have been several reports of smugglers hiding their contraband inside body cavities and other locations. In one instance, a man tried to cross the border with methamphetamine strapped to his leg.

Drug trafficking has become a dire issue in the United States. It has caused record numbers of overdose deaths. The situation at the southern border is one of the primary culprits.

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Want to Close Your Store in San Fran? New Proposal Would Require Six Months Notice and a Replacement

San Francisco is hemorrhaging businesses. Soaring crime and homelessness have forced long-time businesses to close up shop for good. Some of those businesses are grocery stores, leaving many residents in the neighborhood without a place to buy food. But now, a city official may have found a way to make those businesses stick around a while longer, even if it is not financially feasible for them to do so.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Dean Preston introduced what he is calling the "Grocery Protection Act." It is based on a similar proposal in 1984 and was wisely vetoed by then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein.

It would require grocery store owners to give a written six-month notice of their intent to close to the Board of Supervisors, as well as the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), and as if that weren't enough, the stores would also be required to "meet and work in good faith with neighborhood residents," and the OEWD. this could mean anything from finding ways to keep the business open, or essentially to find their replacement.

Failure to comply with this new set of regulations could result in legal proceedings, including damages, injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or a writ of mandate to rectify the violation.

But for neighborhood grocery stores that can no longer maintain a healthy bottom line because of high crime, the new rules seem as though the city wants to punish beleaguered store owners for closing, while city officials try to downplay the crime issue, and then add insult to injury by making a requirement to find your own replacement. Even larger stores like Whole Foods have been forced to shut down.

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