ARIZONA 360

Episode 331

This week, Arizona 360 looks at the ongoing opioid epidemic and the pandemic’s impact on trends. PORT SEIZURES: Lorraine Rivera speaks to Customs and Border Protection Director of Field Operations Guadalupe Ramirez about a surge in fentanyl and heroin seizures at Arizona’s ports of entry. Tony Paniagua also reports on how pandemic-related travel restrictions at the ports have had an adverse effect on the economies of border communities. DRUG INTERDICTIONS AND OVERDOSES: Fentanyl seizures are also on the rise in Pima County, as Arizona 360 learns from Captain Jeffrey Palmer who leads the Pima County Sheriff Department’s Border Interdiction Unit. The increase in interdictions also coincides with a climbing number of opioid-related overdose deaths in the county. Lorraine Rivera discusses how that could be related to the pandemic with University of Arizona professor Todd Vanderah, who heads the university’s Pharmacology Department and is director of its new Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center. PROSECUTING DRUG CRIMES: Laura Conover, who runs unopposed this November in the race for Pima County Attorney, discusses her approach to prosecuting drug-related crimes and the reforms she plans to implement as the county’s top prosecutor.