HOOKSETT, N.H. — Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz told a hushed audience the story of his half-sister Miriam who died of a drug overdose, and made a forceful case for sealing off the Mexican border to stanch the flow of narcotics at a forum on addiction Thursday.

The event, at a Baptist church just outside Manchester, combined the high emotion of the heroin epidemic with the amens of a religious revival and the political jockeying of a New Hampshire primary season reaching its climax.

“If we want to turn around the drug crisis, we have got to finally and permanently secure the border,’’ said Cruz, a Texas senator, standing before a large American flag and a wooden cross.

Cruz, working to consolidate support among conservatives before the primary on Tuesday, took shots at a number of the right’s favorite targets.

The Obama administration, he said, has failed to take border control seriously. The media, Cruz argued, has perpetuated the myth that an effective wall cannot be built on the country’s southern border.

The senator even took a shot at actor Sean Penn, who scored a high-profile interview with drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo’’ Guzman before he was captured by Mexican authorities.

“El Chapo — you know Sean Penn seems to think he is a sexy and attractive character,’’ said Cruz. I “so appreciate Hollywood for glorifying vicious, homicidal killers. What a cute and chic thing to celebrate — someone who murders and destroys lives for a living.’’

The heavy focus on addiction, particularly in New Hampshire, where the heroin crisis is so acute, has been one of the signal trends of the presidential race.

In January, the Addiction Policy Forum, which put on the Cruz event Thursday, drew GOP presidential candidates Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Chris Christie, and Carly Fiorina to an event in a ballroom at Southern New Hampshire University.

Bush talked about his daughter Noelle’s struggle with addiction and called her successful completion of a Florida drug court program “an extraordinary event.’’ Fiorina spoke of the death of her stepdaughter, Lori.

Cruz was not at that gathering and was seeking a venue to speak on the issue. When plans for an event with some other organizations collapsed in recent days, the Addiction Policy Forum hastily convened the Thursday gathering.

Cruz, shortly after taking the stage, reprised the story of his half-sister Miriam.

“Her whole life, she had a rage,’’ he said. “She was angry at the world, she was angry at God.’’

When Miriam was a teenager, Cruz said, she would steal his allowance and use it to buy drugs and alcohol.

At one point, Cruz said, his father flew to Washington where Cruz was working as a lawyer, and they traveled together to Philadelphia to pull Miriam out of a crack house. “I remember my dad and me both taking our watches and our rings and our wallets and leaving them behind,’’ he said.

When they got her out, Cruz said, they took her to a Denny’s and sat with her for four or five hours, “trying to pull her back, but she wouldn’t listen.’’

Miriam’s son eventually found her dead in her bed, Cruz said.

The senator said his father overcame his alcohol abuse by finding God. And he called recovery a personal journey.

“It’s certainly not going to be Washington, D.C., that steps in and solves these problems,’’ said Cruz. “It’s going to be friends and family, churches, charities, loved ones, treatment centers, people working to help those who are struggling overcome their addiction.’’

David Scharfenberg can be reached at david.scharfenberg @globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @dscharfGlobe