Collin County Sheriff touts drug trafficking department efforts to combat fentanyl flood

COLLIN COUNTY, Texas. In 2018, Sheriff Jim Skinner of the Collin County Sheriff’s Office helped create NTXSCIU, the North Texas Sheriff’s Crime Enforcement Unit. Its goal is to fight the flow of illegal drugs and human trafficking into North Texas.

The latest problem has been dealing with the continued trafficking of fentanyl-laced drugs that have killed more and more Americans.

“There is a saying: “One party, one pill, one time.” That’s all it takes,” Skinner said.

Collin County Sheriff’s Offices, Grayson, Hunt, Parker, Rockwall, Smith, Tarrant and Wise jointly confiscated tons of drugs on open roads. Skinner tells the WFAA that the interception unit has seized more than 167,000 fentanyl pills since 2018. But he warns that fentanyl-related deaths in the county have risen by 886% in that time.

“I don’t want another parent doing this,” said Mike Land, who lost his son Preston in January 2021.

Mike Land is involved in a multi-year drug awareness campaign called 25Preston7, visiting 25 national parks for his son Preston. Land said that twenty-five parks was the 25 years that Preston lived before he died of acute fentanyl poisoning. Man-made opioid is 50 times stronger than heroin.

The prohibition group is made up of 18 deputies in eight constituencies. Over the past week and a half, the Interdiction Department has seized 48,000 fentanyl tablets at two stops. In one case, the pills were hidden inside a battery. One of the stops was just past Republican Drive and US 75 in Plano.

“Sometimes we run into cartel soldiers, hardcore. Sometimes we run into someone who is paid to get from point A to point B,” Skinner said. “It has long been known here that US 75 is one of the long established smuggling routes. Like all interstate highways,” he said.

The sheriff says DFW has become a drug distribution hub. It is often brought here across the border and then repackaged for national distribution.

“We know that for every shipment of fentanyl we stop on the highway and confiscate, we know we are saving lives,” the sheriff said.

Mike Land is located in Colorado and has created 7 national parks so far. On each of them, he cycles 7 miles and climbs to the highest peak to erect a monument to his son. Land tells the WFAA that a film crew is following his journey.

“I think he would be proud. I know that one day I will be with him. I will try to do it without tears,” he said.

Skinner is asking federal and state partners to step up. He also asks the Mexican authorities to help in the fight against drug trafficking and human trafficking in the area.