Migrant Drug Seizures by Border Patrol Incredibly Rare, Data Shows

Only a minuscule fraction of migrants stopped by Border Patrol are found to be carrying drugs, according to a Project On Government Oversight (POGO) analysis of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. 

Of the over 5.8 million migrants stopped by Border Patrol between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, drugs were seized from only 249 people, CBP migrant encounter data showed. 

Marijuana accounted for more than half of those 249 drug seizures; just 1 in 53,965 migrants were caught with drugs other than marijuana. To put that into perspective, the odds of dying from a bee sting are 1 in 41,076. 

POGO used publicly available CBP data about U.S. Border Patrol encounters with migrants to analyze how often migrants are caught carrying drugs across the border. Encounters reflected in the data include interactions between Border Patrol agents and people they suspect of entering the country without authorization.

This data is located in massive spreadsheets buried within CBP’s documents library. The data lists the number of Border Patrol drug seizures from migrants between ports of entry, including the types of drugs seized and the citizenship status of the people carrying drugs. 

POGO also reviewed two other CBP datasets on drug seizures: an interactive Drug Seizure Statistics portal on CBP’s website and a spreadsheet that CBP emailed to POGO. The public-facing portal boasts far greater numbers of “drug seizure events.” It also fails to provide the citizenship of those from whom the drugs were seized.

The figures POGO found in the data contradict a narrative frequently deployed by Trump administration officials to justify increased border militarization and a higher DHS budget: the conflation of migrants entering the country illegally through the southern border with the entry of illegal drugs into the U.S. 

“Deliberate Falsehoods”

Advocates say the way CBP presents drug seizure data is intentionally misleading.

According to Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties at the Cato Institute, the Trump administration’s narrative of drugs entering the country via migrants is an example of “deliberate falsehoods” intended to justify border security efforts. 

“We’re talking about a tiny, tiny, tiny slice of people,” Eddington said. “In contrast, Trump and people in his administration are trying to claim that these individuals are actually the drivers of the problem.”

Though not supported by the data, it seems that this narrative has nevertheless been effective at swaying public opinion. A February Ipsos poll found that more than half of Republicans believe most of the fentanyl entering the U.S. is brought by migrants illegally crossing the border.

The U.S. Border Patrol is responsible for monitoring U.S. borders between official ports of entry and at checkpoints within an inland perimeter extending 100 miles from both land and coastal borders of the United States. For example, the Border Patrol monitors rural regions of the borders for foreign nationals attempting to enter the country undetected.

In our review, we found that fentanyl seizures during encounters between Border Patrol and migrants were extremely rare. From fiscal years 2022 through 2024, only 11 of the 233 drug seizures between ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border involved fentanyl. None of the 16 seizures from migrants at the U.S.-Canada border during that time involved fentanyl.

These figures stand in stark contrast to claims by President Donald Trump and others of thousands of migrants rushing across the borders carrying drugs.

In fact, the vast majority of illegal drugs seized at the borders arrive through official ports of entry — and are brought by U.S. citizens. A 2023 study by the Cato Institute found that 86% of people caught carrying fentanyl at U.S. ports of entry between 2018 and 2022 were U.S. citizens. When researchers from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzed data from Border Patrol checkpoints for fiscal years 2016 through 2020, they found that 91% of drug seizure events involved U.S. citizens. 

Despite these statistics, on January 20, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border related to undocumented migrants entering the United States, citing U.S. drug overdose deaths as a justification for curbing the flow of immigration. 

“As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” Trump wrote in a November post on Truth Social announcing his intention to impose tariffs on the two countries because of an “Invasion” by undocumented immigrants.

Drug Seizure Datasets Tell Incomplete, Inconsistent Stories

POGO analysis of three different CBP datasets identified inconsistencies in drug seizure data, notably that the most easily accessible data — which didn’t distinguish between seizures from migrants and from U.S. citizens — showed far greater numbers of drug seizures than the nonpublic data CBP shared with POGO. Advocates say this lack of clarity helps CBP to obscure realities about who is actually bringing drugs into the country.

The first dataset, drawn from a series of downloadable migrant encounter spreadsheets published in CBP’s documents library, provides detailed information about foreign nationals stopped between ports of entry by Border Patrol agents, including people caught with drugs. The second dataset came from CBP’s public-facing “Drug Seizure Statistics” website, which includes filters for Border Patrol drug seizures and data by drug type. A third dataset was provided by CBP to POGO via email. It includes data about the number of U.S. citizens caught with drugs by Border Patrol. The drug seizure tallies in the third dataset differ substantially from either of the first two.

The second dataset is by far the easiest to access. CBP’s website features an interactive portal through which the public can review “drug seizure events” data. The interactive visual presents a line graph which can be filtered by CBP component, border region, and drug type, among other variables. 

CBP tracks drug seizures at official ports of entry and those from between ports of entry, where the U.S. Border Patrol is charged with securing the border. The data on CBP’s Drug Seizure Statistics portal enables users to toggle between the Office of Field Operations (which covers ports of entry) and U.S. Border Patrol to seewhere drug seizures took place.

Noticeably missing is a filter to sort by citizenship status.

The undifferentiated data presented through CBP’s public-facing portal boasts far greater numbers of drug seizure events than it would if such figures were limited to those from migrant encounters. 

For example, in fiscal year 2024, CBP’s public-facing portal says there were 4,100 “drug seizure events” by Border Patrol. Meanwhile, Border Patrol’s public spreadsheets of migrant encounter data from that same period reveal that only 79 drug seizures — just under 2% — were from migrants. 

A spokesperson from CBP declined to answer specific questions about drug seizure events or to comment on the Border Patrol’s drug seizure strategy and effectiveness. In an email to POGO, they said, “USBP can provide data but cannot speak to the reasoning behind how seizures are recorded.” 

In lieu of clarifying CBP’s methodology and definitions for Border Patrol drug seizures, the spokesperson emailed POGO a spreadsheet tracking Border Patrol drug seizures by sector, which included the number of U.S. citizens involved in drug seizures. This third dataset confirmed that the vast majority of Border Patrol drug seizures in recent years were from U.S. citizens: 83% in fiscal year 2024, 80% in fiscal year 2023, and 83% in fiscal year 2022. 

But there were inconsistencies between the third dataset and the two others, including lower overall numbers of drug seizure events.

CBP’s spokesperson declined to provide greater details on what types of events are counted as “drug seizure events” published to their portal. “USBP can provide data but cannot speak to the types of events encompassed in the ‘drug seizure events,’” they wrote in an email to POGO.

The Cato Institute’s Patrick Eddington said this obfuscation of CBP drug seizure data is by design. He argued, “All it’s really doing is helping to create this endless loop where CBP says, ‘See, we’re seizing drugs,’ and then people in Congress … continue to give them more money.”

A 2022 GAO report also identified issues with the Border Patrol’s drug seizure data collection methods. “We found that Border Patrol did not consistently document the people involved in checkpoint enforcement actions, including drug seizures,” said Rebecca Gambler, the GAO’s director of Homeland Security and Justice, in an email to POGO. The GAO recommended that Border Patrol improve the accuracy and consistency of how it recorded drug seizure events, enhance oversight of checkpoint enforcement actions, and ensure that the Border Patrol uses their data system effectively. 

According to immigration advocates, faulty data enables further manipulation, misinformation, and scapegoating. 

Adam Isacson, the director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), explained that the conflation of drug seizures involving migrants and U.S. citizens is a tactic to bolster the narrative that the Border Patrol is facing a migrant-produced drug threat. He said, “If you are trying to portray migrants as malevolent, then not distinguishing that data is also helpful for you.”