It was reported over the weekend that Adam Harrison, 39, an adult son of "Pawn Stars" Rick Harrison, died of a suspected fentanyl overdose.
Now, in response to that tragic event, the popular TV star appears to be casting blame on President Joe Biden's administration for not doing enough to combat the illicit cross-border trafficking of the highly dangerous drug, according to Fox News.
Harrison insisted that the federal government must "do better" at securing the nation's southern border and take "more seriously" the deadly fentanyl crisis that is plaguing the country.
The New York Post reported Monday that Rick Harrison, 58, said in a statement about his deceased son, "Yes, I can confirm Adam died from a fentanyl overdose."
"The fentanyl crisis in this country must be taken more seriously," he told the outlet. "It seems it is just flowing over the borders and nothing is being done about it. We must do better."
Without delving into any details at the time, the elder Harrison publicly acknowledged the death of his son on Friday with an Instagram post that featured a photo of them smiling together and wrote, along with a broken heart emoji, "You will always be in my heart! I love you Adam."
TMZ was the first to report the news on Friday that Adam Harrison had suffered a fatal fentanyl overdose that was being investigated by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.
In an initial statement, the Harrison family said through a representative, "Our family is extremely saddened by the death of Adam. We ask for privacy as we grieve his loss."
The outlet noted that Adam was the second of Rick's three children -- and the second child with his first wife -- but was not particularly well-known to the public as he didn't appear on his father's reality TV show and no longer worked in the family-owned pawnshop in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Indeed, the Post reported that Adam was not believed to have ever appeared on the History Channel's popular "Pawn Stars" series, which has aired since 2009 and documents the goings-on at the family-owned Las Vegas Gold & Silver Pawn Shop.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, and while the drug has some legitimate uses as a powerful prescription pain-killer for post-surgery recovery and terminal cancer patients, the vast majority of overdose deaths stem from illicitly manufactured and distributed fentanyl in liquid or powder form.
The drug is so strong that even a small drop can result in death and it is estimated that around 150 people die from fentanyl overdoses every day -- or nearly 55,000 on average every year.
The National Immigration Forum reported last year that the overwhelming majority of illicit fentanyl in the U.S. originates from chemical compounds produced in China that are then manufactured into the deadly drug in Mexico and then trafficked across the southern border by the drug cartels, often smuggled in vehicles through official ports of entry.
Unfortunately, while U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other law enforcement agencies interdict tens of thousands of pounds of fentanyl annually, that is likely only a small portion of the total amount that is successfully smuggled into the country, where it often ends up mixed with other illicit drugs and results in overdose deaths for unsuspecting addicts.
