Governor Little directs $1 million to fight fentanyl

BOSIE, Idaho (KIFI) - Governor Brad Little is putting more resources behind his anti-drug initiative "Operation Esto Perpetua."

The Governor has committed $1 million towards ridding our streets of fentanyl. In a press conference on Thursday, the Governor revealed an aggressive plan to keep us all safe.

 "We're going to put up to $1,000,000 into some of these efforts; A media campaign, additional testing, roadside testing, which we heard about that was needed," Gov. Little said. "And we absolutely have to protect the brave men and women that work in first response and law enforcement."

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than morphine. The drug is so deadly, that Gov. Little compared taking it to playing Russian Roulette.

Agents at homeland security believe the Mexican Cartel's smuggling networks are a major source of our growing drug problem.  

"We continue to see large amounts of fentanyl and opioids coming into our communities, unfortunately, driven by the Mexican cartel's smuggling networks," Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in charge Robert Hammer said. "We see them utilizing commercial air. We see them utilizing land borders. And we see them getting their supplies and materials to produce this fentanyl down to Mexico through sea routes. Namely from Asian countries such as China, North Korea, etc."

The Idaho State Police are also responding to the threat at every level. They have partnered with two DEA task forces in northern and eastern Idaho.

"Both these task forces are responsible for dismantling large-scale meth, methamphetamine, and fentanyl drug operations," Idaho State Police director Col. Kendrick Wilson said. "Both these task forces also go after the dealers that are directly responsible for providing this poison to our communities."

The Idaho State Police are also devoting more funds to hiring more investigators and increasing patrol hours.

Gov. Little launched "Operation Esto Perpetua" in early 2022. In May 2022, the Governor held a final roundtable where Idahoans weighed in on the impacts meth and fentanyl have had on their communities.

At Thursday's press conference, the Governor's Citizens Action Group presented its findings from those public meetings. You can watch it below.