July saw over 200% rise in fentanyl seizures from June according to CBP
Retired ICE-HSI Special Agent Victor Avila on the fentanyl crisis facing the U.S. and the cartels behind this
A retired ICE agent warned Monday that the United States needs to be doing more to stop being "swamped" with drugs pouring into the country through the southern border.
Retired ICE-HSI Special Agent Victor Avila joined "Fox News Live" after U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported an over 200% increase in fentanyl seizures in July from June as Americans continue to be poisoned by the deadly drug.
"The seizures are good… but that means that it's coming in through every porous part of our open border down at the southern border," Avila said.
Rainbow fentanyl (DEA)
He went on to emphasize the need to hold Mexico accountable and said the Biden administration is doing "absolutely nothing" to address the drug crisis.
"They're our neighbors," said Avila."We must go in there with a different strategy to hold them accountable for what they're not doing in their country."
Avila noted many young people dying from fentanyl poisoning are often unknowing victims of other substances being laced with the deadly drug.
"One out of every four pills in this country, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, is a counterfeit pill," he said. "They are playing Russian roulette with these drugs."
Avila added that China is playing a "huge role" role in the fentanyl poisonings by working with cartels and providing them with the chemicals and precursors.
"They're [bringing] a lot of these pills already fully produced into Mexico, so the cartels can then distribute them into every corner of our country," he said.
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Avila said that as a result, this crisis has affected every part of the U.S., and "every state is a border state."
As a special agent, Avila suffered multiple gunshot wounds and survived a violent ambush from the Mexican Los Zetas drug cartel while on special assignment south of the border. His partner, Special Agent Jamie Zapata, died, and Avila has dedicated himself to the memory of his fallen partner.
Fox News' Tyler O'Neil contributed to this report
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