Idaho sheriff weighs in on escalating fentanyl crisis: 'We are at a crisis stage'
Canyon County, Idaho Sheriff Kieran Donahue speaks out against the U.S.'s southern border crisis and weighs in on the escalating drug crisis plaguing his community.
An Idaho sheriff said Wednesday his county is experiencing a "crisis level" of drug overdoses, especially fentanyl and methamphetamine that comes across the southern border.
Canyon County, Idaho Sheriff Kieran Donahue joined "Fox & Friends First" to discuss how drug cartels are destroying his community.
"We're at a crisis stage, quite frankly. We have never seen the numbers of seizures and the amounts of any drug, including methamphetamine, like we're seeing in fentanyl. And of course, we're still dealing with the methamphetamine crisis we've been in for years," he told Carley Shimkus.
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A homeless man, 24, smokes fentanyl on March 12, 2022, in Seattle. (John Moore/Getty Images)
Donahue said he has had numerous hospitalizations of deputies just from being in contact with the potent drug.
The sheriff said these cartels are well-established and exist in all communities throughout the United States.
"There is not a day or night goes by that we're not dealing with someone associated with the Mexican cartels, at least in our community and communities throughout the state of Idaho. … We are at war with the cartels," he said.
Donahue described how cartels tried to kidnap his then 16-year-old daughter during his time on an FBI gang task force. He said the plot was interrupted before it could be carried out.
"My family's been threatened by these gangs, by the cartel membership. They tried to kidnap my daughter years ago. She was 16 years old. Thankfully, that case got unraveled before it actually happened," he explained.
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Donahue concluded by calling DHS Secretary Mayorkas "idiotic" for claiming the southern border is secure and said the administration is "hiding from the truth" about what's going on at the border.
"This is absolutely ridiculous to think this border is secure, that we're safe in our communities. We are not. We are on the cusp of complete collapse."