Missing autistic man located unharmed in Montgomery Co.

By Rich Hunter
May 12, 2025 | 5:00 PM

An autistic man who had been missing for several days was found safe, police in Montgomery County, Maryland, said Monday.

Brandon Lee Smith, 27, was found “safe, and unharmed,” in Silver Spring, according to a statement from Montgomery County police.

Police had asked for the public’s assistance in Smith who had been last seen on Friday evening near the intersection of McGrath Blvd and Citadel Avenue in Rockville.

On Monday, police shared an updated flyer with photos of Smith the day he left home and asked anyone who has seen him to call 911.

Police said Smith was wearing black and green pajama pants, a gray Champion hoodie, and a royal blue North Face jacket when he was last seen Friday, according to police.

He was carrying a gray bowl with a bag of cereal in it.

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Fentanyl seizures plummet as Trump administration shifts focus to immigration

By Maryland Matters
August 22, 2026 | 8:26 PM

WASHINGTON — Fentanyl seizures decreased by 39% during the first year of the second Trump administration after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shifted the Department of Homeland Security’s criminal investigations arm to conducting immigration enforcement, according to a report government investigators published Friday. Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a subagency of DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reported an “all hands-on deck” environment toward immigration enforcement began in January 2025, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General report. “With ICE dedicating more staff hours to immigration investigations, staffing hours for fentanyl investigations declined,” the report said. The report found that the hours dedicated to fentanyl investigations for fiscal 2025 declined by more than 250,000 hours, or 31%, compared to fiscal 2024.

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