Texas Gov. Greg Abbott came to San Antonio on Tuesday to discuss two of his administration’s major public safety priorities: supporting law enforcement and fighting the fentanyl crisis.
Abbott met with local law enforcement officers and families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl at the Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Bexar County on San Antonio’s North Side.
The roundtable comes as Abbott campaigns for another term as governor and as fentanyl poisoning and public safety remain major issues across Texas.
Abbott opened his remarks by emphasizing his support for law enforcement and outlining efforts to target repeat offenders.
He said he wants to expand the state’s Repeat Offender Task Force across the state, bringing together local, state and federal agencies to identify and arrest dangerous repeat offenders. The governor’s office announced in May that the task force would be expanded from the Houston area to the San Antonio, Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan areas. At that time, the governor’s office said the operation had resulted in 728 arrests, including 455 people identified as high-threat offenders.
Abbott said during Tuesday’s event that the effort has removed more than 1,000 dangerous repeat offenders from Texas streets. He also pointed to other efforts during his administration, including the expansion of Texas anti-gang centers and increased collaboration between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
Abbott said his administration has also worked on bail reform and other measures intended to keep violent repeat offenders behind bars.
The governor then turned his attention to fentanyl, saying Texas is targeting the drug at the border, on highways and within communities. He said Texas has intercepted more than a billion deadly doses of fentanyl.
He also highlighted efforts to hold people who distribute fentanyl accountable when the drug results in a death.
“We’re making it clear, if you’re pushing fentanyl and someone dies, you’re subject to murder charges,” Abbott said.
Abbott also discussed prevention and education efforts. School districts across the state are teaching students about the dangers of fentanyl and how the drug can be mixed into other substances, under a new a state requirement for students in grades 6-12.
He said education is particularly important because fentanyl can be mixed into other drugs or counterfeit pills without the person taking them knowing. He mentioned he will also continue expanding access to Narcan, a medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Texas has previously expanded access to naloxone, the medication in Narcan, through state programs and public awareness efforts. The Texas Department of Public Safety currently promotes fentanyl education and awareness as part of Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month in October.
Abbott said fentanyl deaths in the state have dropped 46% over the last few years and credited the state’s combination of law enforcement, interdiction, education and prevention efforts.
Tuesday’s roundtable also included mothers who lost children to fentanyl poisoning.
Kathy Drago, a director with Soles Walking 4 Souls, thanked Abbott for his work addressing fentanyl and said the crisis has affected thousands of families.
Drago highlighted several actions taken under Abbott, including Operation Lone Star, the state’s “One Pill Kills” fentanyl awareness initiative, statewide Narcan distribution and legislation increasing penalties for people who manufacture or sell fentanyl that results in another person’s death. She also emphasized the importance of continuing to educate young people about the risks of fentanyl.
Abbott said his administration will continue combining law enforcement with education and prevention efforts. He said the goal is to target fentanyl trafficking while making sure Texans, particularly young people, understand the risks associated with the drug.
The governor also said he intends to continue expanding the state’s Repeat Offender Task Force and strengthening collaboration among local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
KSAT reached out to Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, Abbott’s opponent in the 2026 governor’s race, for her response to the governor’s comments and his record on law enforcement and fentanyl.
Hinojosa currently represents House District 49 in the Texas House and serves on the Public Education, Business and Industry, and Select Committee on Educational Opportunity and Enrichment committees. She also chairs the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee.
As of Tuesday night when this article was published, KSAT did not receive a response from Hinojosa’s office.
However, Texas Democratic Party spokesman Jacob Long sent the following statement to the KSAT newsroom:
“Career politician Greg Abbott has plenty of time for roundtable photo-ops, but no answers for Texans struggling around the kitchen table. It’s shameful that he continues to lie about Gina Hinojosa and use law enforcement as a political prop to scare and distract Texans. But let’s be clear: after 12 years of Greg Abbott, data centers are driving up utility bills, property taxes are 85% higher, and as public schools close their doors, Texas’s violent crime rate has remained above the national average for at least the last two years. If $146 million in campaign spending hasn’t convinced Texans to forget that failed record by now, no amount of election-year fear mongering and grandstanding will.”
Texas Democratic Party spokesman Jacob Long
Abbott said the state will continue pursuing fentanyl trafficking through law enforcement while expanding prevention and education efforts.
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