STORY TIME

The celebrated seizure becomes less a triumph than a mirror, reflecting how fear, grief, and political ambition collide in the opioid crisis. Leaders lean on dramatic interdiction stories because they are simple, visual, and immediate, even as the real struggle unfolds in treatment centers, courtrooms, and communities hollowed out by addiction. Focusing on spectacular busts obscures the slower, harder work of building resilient public health systems and honest international partnerships. It also masks uncomfortable questions about surveillance, intelligence operations, and who is empowered—or shielded—by secrecy. A more durable path forward would treat enforcement as one tool among many: disrupting major traffickers while investing just as heavily in prevention, medication-assisted treatment, housing, and economic opportunity. Only by narrowing the gap between what is televised and what is truly needed can policy move from symbolic victories to lasting relief.