Sheriff Smith holds press conference on NTXCIU

TYLER – The Smith County Sheriff and President of the Sheriff’s Association of Texas Larry Smith held a press conference Wednesday with North Texas law enforcement. Smith moderated the event with Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner and Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn concerning the North Texas Criminal Interdiction Unit (NTXCIU). According to our news partner KETK, the press conference focused on the work NTXCIU has done in the past seven years in their mission to fight against illegal drugs in local Texas communities. Reportedly, Skinner formed the interdiction unit in 2017 but laws were changed to allow the North Texas Sheriffs to work together.

According to the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, NTXCIUis a “multi-jurisdictional team of specially trained deputies whose mission is to detect, interdict and disrupt the flow of dangerous drugs, narcotics, contraband and human cargo on establish smuggling corridors on North Texas highways.”

NTXCIU operates out of the North Texas Fusion Center along with Grayson, Hunt, Parker, Rockwall, Smith, Tarrant and Wise counties.

Skinner said the DFW area has become a hub for Mexican drug cartels that bring drugs into the country. “They repackage them for national distribution and then they head out in every direction,” Skinner said. Due to the collaborative effort between the counties, they claim they have been successful in seizing trafficked items and drugs.

“We’ve recovered automatic weapons, ammunition, and an enormous amount, many tons of drugs coming north and flowing into our communities, and this is not done without an enormous amount of bravery coming from these deputies,” Skinner said.

Deputies across counties have partnered to patrol, identify, take down drug and human traffickers, “dirty” money and dangerous weapons.

“Nearly $70 million worth of drugs taken off the street, over 500 arrests that have been made,” Waybourn said. “I would like to mention this: there were 103 pounds of pure fentanyl that’s enough to take 24 million lives.”

The sheriffs also asked parents to closely monitor their children’s social media and networking. Officials said several young people have died from taking drugs that they got from their friends thinking it’s something that it is not, reminding people that “one pill kills.”

“Our youth are going to continue dying from the illicit manufacture and transportation of fentanyl and it’s all over the United States. There is not one state that’s exempt from fentanyl deaths,” Smith said.