California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the National Guard and California Highway Patrol to fight San Francisco's fentanyl epidemic.
"Dismantling fentanyl trafficking and disrupting the supply of the deadly drug in the city by holding the operators of large-scale drug trafficking operations accountable," the Democratic governor's office said.
The San Francisco Police Department will get CHP staff and training to enforce drug trafficking in the Tenderloin.
Newsom has ordered CalGuard to find fentanyl trafficking ring dismantlers. The region's homelessness and drug crisis center on the Tenderloin district.
"San Francisco’s violent crime rate is below comparably sized cities like Jacksonville [Florida] and Fort Worth [Texas] — and there is also more we must do to address public safety concerns, especially the fentanyl crisis,"
In 2021, Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency for the area to combat drug overdoses. January–March overdose deaths rose 40% in the city.
In 2020, the San Francisco Chronicle reported the second-highest overdose rate and fentanyl overdose death rate in the nation.