The White House on Tuesday set out its strategy to counteract the enormous and deadly flow of fentanyl into the U.S., including greater cooperation with the private sector and a push to close loopholes -- even as tensions with Mexico have been heightened over the issue.
"At a time when the global illicit fentanyl supply chain has changed how illicit substances are produced and trafficked, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing a strengthened whole-of-government approach to save lives by disrupting the trafficking of illicit fentanyl and its precursors into American communities," the White House said in a statement.
Fentanyl deaths have been in recent years, with over 70,000 deaths in 2021 attributed to overdoses from the drug -- which is 50-100 times more potent than morphine and can be fatal in tiny doses.
The drug is primarily made in Mexico by drug cartels using precursors from China and then shipped across the U.S.-Mexico land border.
On Tuesday the White House outlined additional measures it is taking to cut off those supply chains that are being used to bring the opioid into the U.S. Specifically, it said it is leading a "coordinated global effort with international partners" to disrupt the drug trade.
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It noted that it lobbied the U.N. to control three additional precursors and is building a "global coalition" to develop solutions, "drive national actions, and create synergies and leverage among like-minded countries who agree that countering illicit synthetic drugs must be a global policy priority." Most recently, President Biden directly highlighted this coalition in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Biden said that the U.S. and Canada are announcing "a commitment to build a new global coalition of like-minded countries led by Canada and the United States to tackle this crisis."
The White House also said it is increasing coordination and information sharing among government law enforcement agencies -- including by tracking pill presses used to make fake pills, increase seizures of bulk cash at the border, and also to target the origins, shipments and destinations of precursors and equipment. The White House strategy also involves disrupting traffickers’ access to the financial markets in the U.S. and to combat money laundering.
Additionally, the administration says it is "accelerating" work the private sector across the globe to combat how traffickers will use commercial enterprises to access resources, raw materials and use technology to conduct their business.
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"To disrupt these criminals’ access to capital and materials, the Biden-Harris Administration is launching a whole-of-government effort, in partnership with the private sector, to strengthen cooperation with international and domestic express consignment carriers to interdict more illicit substances and production materials; educate companies on safeguarding against the sale and distribution of dual-use chemicals and equipment that could be used to produce illicit fentanyl; and intensify global engagement with private chemical industries," the statement said.
Finally, it is calling on Congress to close legal loopholes, including by permanently scheduling illicit fentanyl-related substances into Schedule I -- drugs with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
The White House has also stressed its ongoing crackdowns and arrest operations, as well as an increase in seizures at ports of entry at the southern border.
The fact sheet comes as Republicans have pointed to the ongoing border crisis as a possible source of increased flows of fentanyl. Democrats and the administration have noted that most seizures are made at the ports of entry, not between the ports.
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Meanwhile, calls for increased action from Republican lawmakers -- who have called for cartels to be designated as terrorist organizations and for military action against drug labs in Mexico -- have sparked a fiery reaction from Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
He has threated to launch an "information campaign" against Republicans who call for such actions, while falsely claiming that fentanyl is not produced in Mexico. He has also lashed out at the Biden administration for faulting his country’s record on humans rights.
Most recently, he pleaded with China to do more to stop the shipments coming from Beijing -- while also taking a swipe at "rude threats" from the U.S.
"Unjustly, they are blaming us for problems that in large measure have to do with their loss of values, their welfare crisis," he fumed to Chinese President Xi Jinping. "These positions are in themselves a lack of respect and a threat to our sovereignty, and moreover they are based on an absurd, manipulative, propagandistic and demagogic attitude."
