The US has announced sanctions and indictments against 14 Chinese and Canadian firms for importing fentanyl, one of the most sweeping actions yet to target trafficking of the powerful synthetic opiate. Officials from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies announced the actions on Tuesday. The indictments and sanctions target what officials described as a “major China-based syndicate” that sold fentanyl to drug dealers and international cartels, the Associated Press reported. The majority of those indicted are based in China but some are based…
Tag: Opioids
Opioid crisis: US and China at odds over influx of fentanyl
Who is responsible for the United States’ opioid epidemic? According to the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, the culprits are “transnational criminal enterprises” who need to be tackled via international law enforcement operations. But according to Chinese state media, “the fentanyl crisis in the United States is demand-driven”, primarily by “the users themselves”. Blinken was speaking at the launch of a US-led coalition to address synthetic drug threats, which gathered virtually last week. China, which many US lawmakers blame for the crisis, declined to participate. As a string of…
US sanctions Chinese drugmakers amid addiction epidemic
The US has imposed sanctions on Chinese painkiller makers – including one man described as the biggest producer of anabolic steroids in the world – as it vowed to step up action to curb the addiction epidemic that killed a record 100,000 Americans last year. With people who are dealing with addiction increasingly turning to cheaper pills bought online from abroad, Joe Biden signed an executive order that makes it easier for the US to target foreign drug traffickers. The actions “will help disrupt the global supply chain and the…