WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — It’s been roughly one year since the Kansas Bureau of Investigation launched its K-9 task force to combat fentanyl in Kansas.
There are five dogs in the task force. Four drug-detecting dogs and one electronic device-detecting dog. KBI Director Tony Mattivi spoke to KSN and said the dogs have been a big help.
“The dogs are a very effective tool for us,” Mattivi said. “They’re allowing us to intercept more of these drugs and arrest more drug traffickers, there’s no doubt about that.”
Still, Mattivi said, even though the task force is going well, there’s still a lot of work to do to fight fentanyl in Kansas.
“In spite of all our enforcement efforts, fentanyl continues to be an absolute epidemic here in the state,” Mattivi said. “We are seeing young people die in Kansas every single day because of fentanyl overdoses. Fentanyl overdose deaths are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 40 years old.”
Last year, Mattivi said the number of fentanyl submissions to the KBI lab was up 900% between 2020 and 2022, and unfortunately, they’re not seeing that increase taper off.