Fentanyl, synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin, is causing drug epidemic Deadliest in American History. But it has also opened another new front of tensions in Washington with China. The reason? The chemical precursors essential for manufacture fentanyl They leave the Asian giant.
In central China’s Hubei province, there are several companies with laboratories that produce powdered chemicals, such as 4-piperidone, which end up in the hands of the Mexican cartels of Jalisco and Sinaloa. These make the final product –fentanyl in tablets, pills or powder– and they sneak it into the US into food packages or toy bags.
The origin of this chain is what Washington now uses to point out China by a wave of opioids that is already the leading cause of death among Americans between 18 and 45 years old.
The problem of fentanyl It was one of the topics on the table during the meeting in June in Beijing between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both countries, according to Blinken, agreed to establish a task force “in an attempt to close the flow of the chemicals that help fuel this crisis.
To surprise in BeijingJust a couple of days after that meeting, the US Department of Justice filed criminal charges against four Chinese companies that manufacture the chemical precursors necessary for manufacture fentanyl. It was the first time that Washington directly accused companies of China of trafficking chemicals within the United States.