The Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), an arm of the Boston Police Department, has released its “2016 Heroin Overdose Report.” The findings regarding heroin overdose are disturbing, though probably not surprising.

I want to focus on certain findings in the BRIC report regarding drug traffickers. According to the report, only 39 percent of those arrested for Class A Trafficking claimed to have been born in the United States. 26 percent claimed to have been born in Puerto Rico. Records showed, however, that 65 percent were born in a foreign country, with the Dominican Republic accounting for 84 percent of the foreign born arrestees.

The numbers add up to more than 100 percent because, in many cases, the records listed multiple places of birth. The report notes:

There has been open source reporting that Dominican drug traffickers will use identities stolen from Puerto Rico to acquire drivers licenses in Massachusetts, and in other states. An analysis was done to see if there were signs of identity fraud or use of aliases by those arrested for trafficking. In 44% [of] cases where a person was arrested for Trafficking Class A in 2015 or 2016 and listed a place of birth other than the US, there were signs of past identity fraud or use of different names at booking. In 59% of the cases where the suspect listed Puerto Rico as their place of birth, there were signs of identity fraud or use of aliases.

It would seem, then, that there is a connection between heroin trafficking in Boston and illegal immigration. However, Steve Robinson, writing on the web page of the Howie Carr show, notes that Boston Mayor Marty Walsh offered to open City Hall as a sanctuary to illegal aliens facing deportation under the Trump administration. In addition, says Robinson, Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker has resisted President Trump’s efforts to withdraw law enforcement grants from towns and cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities in the enforcement of immigration laws.

Might not better cooperation with federal authorities in enforcing our immigration laws — enacted by Congress, not by President Trump — help rid Boston of some who are killing Bostonians via drug overdoses?