Exclusive–Kelly Cooper: Arizona in Fentanyl Crisis, The Cartel’s Newest Target Is Our Children

It is painstakingly clear that the cartels have a new target, and it is intentional: our kids.

This week, multiple seizures at the Arizona border make it abundantly clear that we are at the front lines of an unprecedented invasion as drug cartels target our communities and now our children. The seizure of “Rainbow Fentanyl” at the Arizona border shows that these groups are behaving like the once dominant tobacco industry: selling to children. The major difference – one dose and your child could be gone in an instant.

There is a lot of confusion as to the usage and dangers of fentanyl, and now that it is disguised to look like simple candy that children could easily consume, parents need to wake up and pay attention.

Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. The risk of an addiction and overdose is much higher than that of traditional opioids. The direct link from China to the Mexican Cartels cannot be tolerated. We owe our families security and safety. That is the first requirement of any elected official.

It is abundantly clear that the Biden Administration and local rubber stamper Greg Stanton are not capable of protecting our most vulnerable population – our own children. Last week, I went down to the border and witnessed the dangers of this crisis firsthand and one thing was very apparent – the danger to our children and community could not be more intentional.

How many children will need to needlessly die from this direct targeting of drugs to an innocent population before they believe we have a crisis?

Just days ago, over 1.5 million fentanyl pills were seized at the Arizona port of entry. The only people winning are the drug traffickers. We have lost over 100,000 lives in the United States to these cartels, yet Democrats in Congress do nothing. Over the past few months, when votes could have been placed to stop the flood of illegal immigration and drug trafficking, Democrats across the board chose to ignore the problem.

The massive increase in fentanyl and opioids transported through our open border by drug cartels is wreaking havoc on our communities. My opponent is against adding border agents, against Title 42, and against the remain in Mexico policy.

The Arizona Border Security Task Force, created by the border state Governors, has seized over 457 lbs. of heroin and 190 million lethal doses of fentanyl. This is a job the federal government is supposed to stop at the border, but with Biden’s open border policy, along with Congressman Stanton’s support of those policies, our local law enforcement is forced to stop the drug flow.

We need to complete construction on the border wall system, hire more border patrol agents, and keep our Arizona communities safe from cartel activity that is focused on harming our children. Our citizens must come first.

The number of migrant encounters this year alone has exceeded two million. This humanitarian crisis worsens by the day, and politicians in Washington continue to turn a blind eye to the peril and dangers that Arizonans face. Arizona is at the front lines of this crisis, and our representatives in Washington are choosing open border policies over protecting our own communities.

Arizonans deserve better. We are spending our state tax dollars to try and fix a problem that is a federal issue. If we focus on securing the border, we will not need to spend tens of millions of dollars to deal with the current self-inflicted border mess in the federal budget. Not only would my policies slow down uncontrolled migration, but they would also put a stop to the nefarious efforts of the drug cartels and reduce the illicit drug flow into Arizona.

The only way to fix this problem is to elect candidates committed to stopping this politically driven open border policy. I will always put People over Politics. Now more than ever, it is time to restore logic in our federal government and start fighting for common sense policies that save lives – including those of our children.

Kelly Cooper is a dedicated husband and father, a small businessman, and a United States Marine Corps veteran. He has successfully owned and operated multiple restaurants in Arizona and is committed to fighting for American freedom. Kelly is running in District 4 of Arizona and will fight for the economy, border security, election integrity, education, veteran affairs and stopping government overreach.