The federal drug squad has seized $11.9 million worth of fentanyl, the governor said

Amid the ongoing opioid crisis, a California National Guard task force helped seize 1,542 pounds of fentanyl last month, with an estimated street value of $11.9 million, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday.

The national opioid crisis continues to plague California – as individual regions carve a plateau in deaths related to drug overdose.

Federal officials are responding by doubling staff and investing millions in a special force to take fentanyl pills, and other illegal opioids, off the street.

In October, the California National Guard's Counterdrug Task Force he helped seize more than 1.7 million fentanyl pills. The effort comes after Newsom increases the number of service members earlier this year from 155 to 392 to stop the entry of fentanyl across state ports.

“California continues the hard work of keeping fentanyl out of our communities, helping law enforcement seize 204% more fentanyl last month than the month before,” Newsom said in a statement Tuesday.

The task force was launched in 2022, with about 30 service members deployed to the ports of entry in San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate and Calexico. Following its “first success,” the task force doubled in size after receiving a $30-million federal investment to stop drug trafficking by international criminal organizations and to address humanitarian and security efforts, state officials said.

Last year, the task force and the California Highway Patrol were sent to San Francisco to help police and prosecutors deal with the city's fentanyl problem. Some said the plan lacked detail and others said it targeted low-income neighborhoods like the Tenderloin. But Newsom has assured critics that the partnership targets drug traffickers and suppliers, not drug abusers.

In 2023, 810 people in San Francisco will die from unintentional drug overdoses, according to the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. About 540 people died of accidental overdoses in San Francisco between January and October 2024.

Drugs in general report in those deaths were fentanyl, heroin, medical opioids, methamphetamine and cocaine.

In Los Angeles County, the number of deaths decreased from 3,220 in 2022 to 3,092 in 2023, according to the LA County Department of Public Health.

A small decrease was partially approved for public distribution of naloxonea drug used to reverse the effects of opioids and stabilize breathing. About 5,000 overdoses have been reversed with naloxone starting in 2022, according to LA County Health Services.