(RepublicanNews.org) – The White House said on April 11th that it plans to target the ways illegal fentanyl is shipped, paid for, and produced at a time when the supply chain “has changed how illicit substances are produced and trafficked.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that mimics the pain-killing effects of morphine but with 100 times morphine’s potency by weight. Even apparently small amounts that contaminate areas or other drugs such as marijuana can cause rapid overdose and death. Overdose deaths from fentanyl contamination have risen sharply in the US in recent years.
In 2021, 70,000 deaths came from fentanyl overdoses.
Most fentanyl that ends up in the U.S. comes from Mexico from cartels who manufacture it using ingredients from China, then ship it over the border.
The Biden administration said it was leading a “coordinated global effort with international partners” to stop the drug’s flow. Laden with business jargon, the White House’s announcement discussed how to “create synergies” with “global coalitions” that “drive national actions” and “leverage.” One such “international partner” is Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
But what are the concrete specifics?
According to the White House, the U.S. will share more information among U.S. law enforcement agencies about new actions the federal government will take. These include tracking the location of “pill presses” that actually form the tablets, seizing more “bulk cash” that shows up at the U.S.-Mexico border, and to track the origin and travel paths of chemical precursors and equipment used to manufacture the drug.
The U.S. also plans to somehow disrupt drug traffickers’ use of U.S. financial markets to launder drug money.
The White House also said it was “accelerating” efforts to work with the private sector to deal with how drug traffickers use legitimate businesses to get a hold of raw materials and machines necessary to manufacture and ship fentanyl.
The Biden administration is also asking Congress to reclassify fentanyl to the highest level of legal control under U.S. drug law.
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