NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Sen. Chuck Schumer wants the federal government to spend at least $5 million more on drug detection at the International Mail Facility at JFK in a bid to stop Chinese fentanyl from coming into the U.S.
Schumer says JFK is the main access point for Chinese fentanyl distribution in the Northeast.
"JFK is at the center of stopping fentanyl if we do things right," the senator said.
The money would go for handheld drug-detection devices, as well as personnel to operate those devices. It would also fund more drug-sniffing dogs.
Schumer stood in front of a post office on Manhattan's East Side while making the plea.
He says if fentanyl gets through the Mail Facility at JFK, it will go on to post offices and eventually to the streets.
"JFK should be our firewall in preventing fentanyl from being sent to the whole New York metropolitan area and the whole Northeast," he said.
The senator says four people die of fentanyl drug overdoses every day in New York City.
"More people die of fentanyl than die of car accidents," he said.
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