INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Gov. Mike Braun on Tuesday told News 8 tougher enforcement in Indiana and at the U.S.-Mexico border saved lives last year.

The Indiana State Police said state troopers seized 1,574 pounds of cocaine last year, including 1,100 pounds taken from a U-Haul truck. They also seized 88 pounds of fentanyl powder, nearly 73 pounds of heroin and 191,000 fentanyl pills.

State police said those are records as far as they know. For comparison, state police seized 919 pounds of cocaine, 73 pounds of fentanyl powder and 20 pounds of heroin in 2024.

In an interview with News 8, Braun said state police have changed some of their techniques, including how they approach commercial vehicle enforcement.

“You see the semis get pulled over, that’s generally for a safety check, maybe a taillight being out. Well, they’re going to the next step just to make sure nothing else is amiss,” he said.

Braun credits those enforcement efforts, along with supply disruptions due to the Trump administration’s tougher border policies, with a drop in drug overdose deaths. The state health department’s drug overdose dashboard shows 562 overdose deaths in the first half of 2025 compared to 869 during the same period in 2024, a drop of roughly 35%. The department’s data for 2025 and 2024 is preliminary and is current only through August 5 of last year.

Substance abuse treatment advocates said tougher enforcement and better access to treatment both play a role in reducing overdose deaths. Overdose Lifeline founder Justin Phillips said fentanyl is now present in virtually every illicit drug, so access to the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone is a must. She said the biggest obstacle people battling addiction in Indiana face is being able to navigate the treatment options that are available to them. Phillips said Indiana 211 is an excellent resource.

“Parents and caregivers and people who love someone with substance use disorder need tools to understand how to still navigate those resources and know what questions to ask and how to get their own recovery, because the whole family suffers, not just the individual,” she said.

Phillips said overdose deaths spike in the immediate aftermath of large-scale drug busts because users are unable to work with their usual dealers and turn to new dealers who might sell even more adulterated substances. In Marion County, Overdose Lifeline and the Marion County Health Department run a text alert system called CHARIOT that can alert users to bad batches and large-scale seizures, as well as connect them with naloxone and treatment services.

Braun said he plans to ask for increased funding for substance abuse and mental health programs when lawmakers begin their next budget session in 2027. He said the December revenue forecast indicates the state will have more money to work with than state economists feared during the final days of budget negotiations last year.

“When you are doing things that are working so well, you continue doing it,” he said. “And as we gather information in terms of new things to do, looking at what other states might do, we’ll do all of that. But when you go from over 1,600 overdoses (in 2024) to 562 (in the first half of 2025), that’s an Allelujah moment.”

Users can sign up for CHARIOT by texting that word to 833-274-7039.