Customs officials ramp up crack down on fentanyl smuggling attempts at LAX

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Fentanyl overdoses have skyrocketed over the past few years, forcing law enforcement to create new ways to stop the import of the dangerous drug.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents are battling the fentanyl crisis head on, using high-tech systems to sift through thousands of incoming packages, including at Los Angeles International Airport.

Chemicals used to make fentanyl are knows as precursors, and smugglers try to get clever by hiding them in what appear to be regular shipments. That's where inspectors from Customs and Border Protection come in. Their job is to outsmart the creative criminals.

"And they're coming through disguised in innocent e-commerce packages, and they're commingled with thousands and thousands of other packages," CBP inspector Andrew Chavez said. "It's like finding a needle in a stack of needles, seven days a week, 365 days a year."

It all happens at a secure inspection warehouse near LAX. In the war against fentanyl, it's the front line.

U.S. Customs agents have computerized systems that allow them to target items that are flagged as suspicious and warrant further inspections.

"If it gets through LAX, it gets out on the street. If it gets through LAX it's going to get to its next destination, and it's going to be turned into the final product," Chavez said.

The numbers are staggering: 35,000 shipments a day come through the warehouse. The movement is constant. They need to inspect items quickly.

There used to be 87 warehouses spread out over the area. Now it's all in one place.

Kristie Canegallo, the deputy secretary of Homeland Security, visited the location on Friday to see the process firsthand.

This is all part of Operation Artemis.

"Operation Artemis was launched in June of this year, and we have already seized over 8,000 pounds of fentanyl precursors and over half of that we've seized right here, out of LAX," Canegallo said.

Officials say fentanyl is a significant challenge, killing more than 100,000 Americans over the last two years.

And it is easy to make. Unlike meth, which is dangerous to produce, a pill press in someone's home can produce thousands of pills a day.

"Americans are dying every single day," Canegallo said. "At the Department of Homeland Security, we are committed to doing our part to try to cut off fentanyl and fentanyl precursors."