HELENA – Attorney General Austin Knudsen joined a coalition of 25 attorneys general Monday in urging the Trump Administration to close a loophole used by adversaries and drug traffickers to flood deadly fentanyl into the United States.

In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristi Noem and Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Pete Flores, the attorneys general call for greater scrutiny of an CBP import pilot program called Entry Type 86, which allows small packages to enter the U.S. with minimal customs screening. Without diligent inspections, drug cartels and traffickers can abuse the program to bring fentanyl and other deadly drugs, like methamphetamine and cocaine, into the United States.

“As attorneys general responsible for protecting the safety of our constituents, we are proud to partner with President Trump and this Administration to stop the flow of illicit deadly drugs into our country and our communities. Your focused efforts to secure the southern border are a critical step in this work. Unfortunately, however, traffickers and our foreign adversaries like China are constantly finding new ways to bring fentanyl and other poisons into our neighborhoods,” the attorneys general wrote. “We write today to ask for your help in addressing a serious loophole that is currently being exploited by those who profit off the devastation of American lives.”

In just a 10-year period, imports under the Entry Type 86 program skyrocketed from 153 million packages in 2015 to over 1.2 billion in 2024, requiring further study because of serious concerns about the amount of fentanyl and other deadly drugs that could be coming into the country.

While last year fentanyl seizures in Montana were down from the previous year, dangerous drugs are still being trafficked into the state from the southern border at concerning rates. Last year, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroine seizures were up in the state and fentanyl seizures were still up 354 percent from 2021.

Some shippers also use the Entry Type 86 program to dodge regulations and avoid paying required duties, raising concerns about security risks, illegal trade and weaknesses in our supply chain.

Attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming also joined the Kentucky-led brief.

Click here to read the letter.