Ayotte Renews Call to Combat Drug Trafficking

Press Release

In the wake of notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's escape from maximum security prison in Mexico, U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte today renewed her call for increased efforts to combat drug trafficking - including an amendment she included in the Senate-passed Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act to address the extensive tunnel systems present at various points along the southern border. Guzman's Sinaloa network is reportedly the largest drug smuggling operation in Mexico and is responsible for more than half of the heroin surging into the United States. Guzman's cousin, Jesus Gutierrez-Guzman, is being sentenced in New Hampshire later this summer for crimes relating to his role in working to expand the drug cartel's reach in the United States and Europe.

"In light of the ongoing heroin crisis in New Hampshire, El Chapo's escape and the sentencing of Jesus Gutierrez-Guzman underscore the need to boost drug interdiction efforts on our nation's southern border, where much of the heroin taking lives in New Hampshire enters the country from Mexico," said Ayotte. "An amendment I fought to include in the defense bill earlier this year would help enable the U.S. to counter tunnels on our southern border that are used to smuggle drugs like heroin into our country, but we must do more, and I urge Congress to take steps to secure our southern border and reduce cross-border drug smuggling."

Senator Ayotte is a strong supporter of federal programs that state and local law enforcement officers rely on to interdict illicit drugs and fight related crime, including the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program and Drug Free Communities.

Heroin in New Hampshire largely originates from Mexico and South America and interdicting heroin before it enters the country is crucial. As a member of the Senate Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Armed Services, Senator Ayotte has encouraged homeland security officials and military commanders to identify and stop transnational drug-trafficking rings, particularly those that traffic across the U.S.-Mexico border.

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