The California National Guard broke a state record in October for the number of narcotics seized in a single month after it confiscated 1,238,281 fentanyl pills worth an estimated $64.5 million. 

The narcotics were seized by the National Guard‘s specialized narcotics team, which was created through a $30 million investment approved in the 2022 state budget. 

“More Americans died from drug overdoses in 2022 and 2023 than U.S. soldiers killed in every war since World War II combined. We are in a war, a war against deadly drugs and the smugglers pushing them into our communities,” state Assemblyman David Tangipa (R-CA) told the Washington Examiner. 

“I’m proud to see the National Guard expanding its efforts to stop fentanyl, and I hope to see even larger, coordinated operations in the future. Every overdose death is a preventable one.”

The Washington Examiner contacted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) office for comment.  

Just this year, servicemembers, in conjunction with other state agencies, have seized 5,174.99 pounds of fentanyl, or over 3 million pills, estimated to be worth around $43 million. 

Since the beginning of the drug efforts in 2021, the troops have helped seize over 35,065 pounds of fentanyl, which equals over 51.8 million pills. The street value of the total haul is estimated to be $498.4 million. 

Narcotics, specifically fentanyl, claim the lives of over 72,000 people in the United States in 2023 alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.    

The seizure comes as the United States continues to intensify its counter-narcotics operations. President Donald Trump signed the HALT Fentanyl Act into law in July, which codified harsher penalties for those distributing the drug and authorized counter fentanyl operations to be carried out by law enforcement. 

Trump has escalated the war on drugs since September, carrying out air strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats and submersibles in the Caribbean. 

Countless drugs were eradicated in a U.S. military strike on a narco-trafficking submarine in October. In the same month, at least two more strikes were carried out on alleged drug-running boats, which killed six people, the Pentagon said.