On Friday, Governor Newsom announced the National Guard and California Highway Patrol will help combat San Francisco’s fentanyl trafficking crisis and address the rise in fentanyl use.
The “Public safety partnership” will focus on “Dismantling fentanyl trafficking and disrupting the supply of the deadly drug in the city by holding the operators of large-scale drug trafficking operations accountable,” said Newsom in a release.
CHP will assist the San Francisco Police Department by assigning personnel and training, drug trafficking enforcement within certain areas of the city, specifically the Tenderloin area. The California National Guard has been directed by Newsom to identify personnel and resources that will help dismantle fentanyl trafficking rings.
“Our Police Department and District Attorney have been partnering to tackle this issue and increase enforcement, but our local agencies can use more support,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
San Francisco had the second-highest overdose rate in the nation along with the second-highest death rate from fentanyl overdose in 2020, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.