Top White House drug policy official visits Minnesota as meth and fentanyl surge in pandemic

Sep 16, 20200

ELIZABETH FLORES • Star Tribune count

U.S. drug czar Jim Caroll handed out recovery coins to leaders in the drug recovery community and recovering addicts at the Minnesota Recovery Connection in St. Paul on Tuesday.

White House drug czar Jim Carroll visited St. Paul Tuesday to meet with Minnesota law enforcement, recovery workers and tribal leaders as the COVID-19 pandemic fuels historic levels of drug trafficking and overdoses across the United States.

Carroll, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy for President Donald Trump, said in an interview that international drug traffickers have been flooding the borders - especially the northern border - over the past six months in an effort to exploit potential security weaknesses as the nation responded to COVID-19.

"We're seeing these drug traffickers who think we're letting our guard down, and we're not," said Carroll.

https://www.startribune.com/top-white-house-drug-policy-official-visits-minnesota-as-meth-and-fentanyl-surge-in-pandemic/572420822/