After China cracked down on fentanyl production several years ago, the rival Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have come to dominate the market for supplying the highly potent synthetic opioid to the United States, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
Mexican cartels were ready to take advantage after China put fentanyl-related drugs under a controlled regulatory regime in May 2019, under pressure from the U.S.
The Mexican cartels already had established trafficking networks centered around drugs like cocaine, marijuana and heroin, said Uttam Dhillon, who served as acting DEA administrator in the Trump Administration.
He added that they had ties with Chinese chemical makers, and vast experience running drugmaking labs, through their production of methamphetamine, another synthetic drug they are sending to the U.S.
Not only is fentanyl less expensive to make, but production is simpler than heroin, because it is entirely synthetic and does not require cultivating the poppies needed for heroin.
This means that busts of Mexican labs or large seizures at the border can be quickly made up for with a new supply without having to wait to harvest crops or pay farmers.
“Synthetic opioids offer economic and tactical advantages that allow criminals to vastly outpace enforcement efforts,” according to a recent bipartisan report on synthetic opioids.
The report added that illegal drug exports to the U.S. from Mexico are worth tens of billions of dollars annually, with fentanyl a growing share of the business.
Fentanyl market dynamics are difficult to disrupt. One problem is that many of the precursor chemicals made in China are also used in legitimate pharmaceuticals. The Wall Street Journal reported that even when some are controlled, fentanyl makers can choose different inputs among an array of available chemicals, the recent U.S. bipartisan report said.
Fentanyl, an inexpensive, easy-to-replicate formula, has increased its appeal to criminal networks and has fueled an overdose crisis that claimed more than 108,000 lives in the U.S. last year.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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