Chemicals from China, produced in Mexico: fentanyl crisis in the US is serious and lawmakers discuss further actions
During a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, lawmakers talked about possible changes to foreign policy to deal with the fentanyl crisis. They stressed the need to crack down on Chinese and Mexican officials to stop the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says that most of the fentanyl that comes into the United States is made in illegal labs in Mexico with chemicals from China.
“We need to use every tool we have in foreign policy to stop fentanyl from coming into our country. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who is in charge of the committee, said, “This means we need to ask Mexico to do more to stop criminal groups from making and selling fentanyl.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that more than 100,000 people in the U.S. died from drug poisonings or overdoses in the year ending in January 2022. Sixty-seven percent of these deaths were caused by fentanyl or other synthetic opioids.
Anne Milgram, who is in charge of the DEA, said that the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, both in Mexico, are the sources of the “vast majority” of fentanyl coming into the U.S.
Milgram says that when cartels get chemicals from China, they make a lot of fentanyl powder. They then press the powder into fake prescription pills and sell them on social media in the U.S.
Milgram said, “We are now seizing fentanyl in all 50 states. It is the most dangerous drug threat our country has ever faced.” “For all of these reasons, beating these two cartels is our most important operational goal right now.”
Many Republican senators said that the Biden administration was to blame for the fentanyl trade because it didn’t do more to stop people from coming in through the southern border.
Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member of the committee, said, “Mexican cartels use the money they make from drug trafficking to buy sophisticated weapons, bribe officials, challenge the authority of the Mexican state, and do terrible things.” “The same cartels are profiting from and extending the illegal migration crisis caused by the Biden administration’s weak enforcement of border security and immigration controls.”
The Biden administration and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are ready to “bring the full power of American diplomacy to this challenge,” according to Todd Robinson, assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
Robinson said that rules should be very strict because synthetic drugs like fentanyl can be made anywhere with chemicals and tools that are legal.
Robinson said, “We hope that Mexico will put more money into preventing, treating, and rehabilitating people who use synthetic drugs, as well as in investigating and prosecuting those who do.” “The United States is still committed to working with the [People’s Republic of China] to fight drugs, even though the PRC has been less willing to work with the US on this issue lately.”
Biden talked about the fentanyl crisis in his State of the Union speech last week. He promised to increase penalties to stop the trafficking of fentanyl, work with couriers to check packages for drugs, and put more machines that can find drugs at the border.
During the hearing, Menendez said he was worried that Mexican officials weren’t doing enough to help.
He said, “I don’t know how many more people have to die before Mexico gets involved.”
Menendez and other lawmakers said that putting more sanctions on China could be one way to get them to help stop the trafficking of synthetic opioids.
“If China is helping to send fentanyl to the U.S., then we need to think about putting in place the right sanctions,” Risch said. “China’s lack of concern could be bad for the future of its country.”
