Pelosi asks DEA for help combatting drug cartels in San Francisco

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to send the Drug Enforcement Administration to San Francisco. In a letter, Pelosi officially requested that San Francisco be designated for the DEA and Department of Justice’s Operation Overdrive initiative. 

“Mr. Attorney General, this request is urgent. My constituents have a strong sense of community and the overall safety in our City, but have expressed to me specific concern about the fentanyl crisis,” Pelosi wrote. “Time is of the essence. People are dying from fentanyl and violence. We hope to hear soon about a designation of Operation Overdrive for San Francisco to combat the cartels.”

Pelosi said she has the support of local officials including Mayor London Breed. 

Overdose deaths in the city increased 41% in the first three months of 2023, compared to the same time in 2022. 

Operation Overdrive began in February 2022 in 34 cities and 23 states across the country. It has since expanded to 57 cities. The DEA describes it as a data-driven, intelligence-led approach to identifying and dismantling criminal drug networks operating in areas with the highest rates of violence and overdoses. 

If this federal support is approved, it would expand a similar initiative at the state and local level. California Gov. Gavin Newsom just sent in the state’s Highway Patrol and National Guard to train and assist San Francisco police officers.

“Those who traffic drugs, guns, and human beings are not welcome in our communities,” Newsom said. “That’s why we’re launching this operation. This is not about criminalizing people struggling with substance use – this is about taking down the prominent poison peddlers and their connected crime rings that prey on the most vulnerable, and harm our residents. While it’s true that San Francisco is safer than many cities its size, we cannot let rampant crime continue.”

There is also an effort to ramp up prosecutions. The California Department of Justice will assist with complex and multi-jurisdictional cases. 

“The fentanyl crisis is a serious threat to public health and the safety of our communities — and addressing this crisis requires a multifaceted, collaborative approach,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. 

The newly sworn in U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey will also assist in prosecutions if the DOJ approves the Operation Overdrive designation.