As fentanyl plagues Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott directs state police to focus on cartels

Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton at a border security briefing in January. On Wednesday, Abbott directed the Department of Public Safety to target drug cartels as fentanyl deaths continue in Texas. (Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune)

Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday directed the Department of Public Safety to redouble its efforts combating Mexican drug cartels, which he blamed for transporting millions of doses of the opioid fentanyl into Texas.

“Fentanyl is a clandestine killer, and Texans are falling victim to the Mexican cartels that are producing it,” Abbott said at a roundtable in Midland with DPS Director Steve McCraw and local law enforcement and political officials.