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
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Since 2026, the Trump administration dramatically escalated its militarized anti-narcotics campaign. In addition to launching a full-scale military operation in Venezuela, codenamed Operation Absolute Resolve, during which U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, flying them to New York to face federal drug-related charges, the administration has continued to carry out dozens of lethal boat strikes in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing over 200. The administration has since signaled intentions to “run” the country and leverage Venezuela’s oil resources, even as its interim successor, Delcy Rodríguez, asserts control domestically and global leaders question the legality of the intervention.
The Trump administration’s unilateral militarized approach to addressing the illicit drug trade, carrying out a series of airstrikes on boats in the Caribbean and cartel leaders has failed to stem the flow of narcotics into the U.S. Analysts continue to warn that a strategy comprised solely of mounting armed attacks on cartels, with or without the cooperation of partners, is unlikely to stop their operations and will likely backfire without a comprehensive approach that includes coordination with the Mexican government.
