The illicit trafficking and use of synthetic opioids like fentanyl are devastating communities across the United States.
More than 100,000 Americans die of drug overdoses each year. In 2019, U.S. diplomatic efforts succeeded in pressing China to crack down on the development and shipment of fentanyl to the United States, but in the years since, as the bilateral relationship deteriorated, China-based groups have shifted to shipping precursor chemicals to Mexican drug cartels, who have increasingly turned to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids due to their low production costs.
The U.S. can and should increase pressure on China, India, and other countries to crack down on smugglers and money launderers facilitating the trade in chemical precursors to drug traffickers. At the same time, the U.S. should prioritize a renewal of law enforcement cooperation with Mexico, particularly in the wake of the July 2024 arrest of the heads of the two branches of the Sinaloa cartel.
Call on Congress to support diplomatic and law enforcement efforts aimed at disrupting the global supply chain of synthetic opioids
The percentage of overdose deaths in the United States in 2024 attributed to synthetic opioids.
