DeSantis SLAMS open border policies, says Biden should be given ‘honorary membership’ in Mexican drug cartels

"Nobody has done more to help the cartels than Biden with his open border policies," DeSantis continued during the press conference.

DeSantis signed HB 95 into law to enhance penalties for the sales of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

The legislation will increase the mandatory minimum sentence for trafficking fentanyl from three to seven years for four to 14 grams of the drug, and from 15 to 20 years for 14 to 28 grams.

The bill also adds methamphetamine to the list of controlled substances. Dealers could land first-degree murder charges if the drug use results in a person’s death. This list includes cocaine, opium, methadone, and fentanyl.

Penalties were added for the sales of controlled substances within 1,000 feet of a substance abuse treatment facility.

"We can and must lower the demand for drugs through education and outreach programs, but we also must fight the supply of drugs and crack down on dealers and traffickers, particularly of substances like fentanyl," DeSantis said during the signing ceremony, according to The Hill.

"If you are dealing fentanyl you are killing people and you are going to be put in jail," DeSantis said. "The Biden administration’s reckless open border policy has threatened the safety of all Americans, but certainly of Floridians as we continue to see record amounts."

"If you look at what’s going on at the southern border right now. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like this, with the massive numbers of people that are coming across the border illegally," DeSantis said. "It’s fueling a massive infusion of fentanyl into this country."

So far in the 2022 fiscal year, US Customs and Border Patrol officers have confiscated 100,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 34,700 pounds of cocaine, 6,600 pounds of fentanyl, and 1,100 pounds of heroine.

In April, CBP authorities encountered 234,088 people crossing the souther border, which is around 20,000 more than the peak last July. In total, the CBP has encountered 1,295,900 people crossing the border this fiscal year. Last fiscal year, they encountered 1,734,686 in total.