Report: China and Mexico are to blame for the fentanyl crisis

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — A new report places responsibility for producing deadly fentanyl on China, but also says Mexico is responsible for smuggling the drug into the United States.

The Heritage Foundation’s report, “Holding China and Mexico Accountable for America’s Fentanyl Crisis,” finds that China, despite being an ocean away, is the primary supplier of the precursor chemicals used in fentanyl production for the drugs that end up in the U.S.

“Despite its geographic distance, China, not Mexico, has emerged as the primary force driving the US fentanyl crisis,” said report co-author Andrew Harding.

In 2023, the number of overdose deaths in the United States will exceed 108,000. Nearly three-quarters of those deaths, or 74,700, were caused by synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, the report found.

Mexican cartels are accused of smuggling the drugs across the border, but the report says China is the real supplier of the chemicals.

“Mexican drug cartels play the most visible and publicized role in fueling the fentanyl crisis. On the other side of the Pacific, however, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is driving the destabilizing flow of fentanyl directly into the United States,” the report released Monday found.

The report, from the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, said the Biden administration is “turning a blind eye to the complicity of the (Chinese Communist Party) and corrupt officials in the Mexican government.”

The precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl are shipped from China to Mexico and Canada. “Once in North America, drug cartels use precursor chemicals to produce finished fentanyl for distribution,” the report said.

“China’s precursor chemicals and money laundering operations emboldened the Mexican cartels and poisoned Americans from within,” Harding said.

The report is also critical of the Communist Chinese Party’s (CCP) tax rebate programs for the export of precursor chemicals, saying that Chinese pharmaceutical companies and other vendors are using dark web marketplaces to list and sell illegal narcotics, including the many fentanyl precursor and pre-precursor chemicals.

“For years, the CCP has undermined U.S. interests by providing Mexican cartels with the financial and production resources to expand their fentanyl market. Both the Mexican and Chinese governments have repeatedly shown a lack of commitment to better address this epidemic,” the report said.

You can contact Sandra Sanchez at [email protected].