Global Powers Collaborate to Combat Fentanyl Crisis and Transnational Crime

The U.S., Mexico, and China are trading accusations over the fentanyl crisis. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl can be 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more powerful than heroin. The U.S. officials say that the precursors for fentanyl come almost entirely from China, with much smaller amounts coming from India. The “vast majority” of the fentanyl that crosses the border is smuggled by the powerful Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has denounced the "threats to our sovereignty," argued that a “lack of hugs” and the “disintegration of families” are driving America’s opioid epidemic, and claimed Mexicans neither produce nor use the drug, despite considerable evidence to the contrary.