China’s Ties to the U.S. Fentanyl Problem
Introduction
F
entanyl overdose is the leading cause of death in Americans aged 18-45. [1] In 2022 almost 70k of the 110k overdose deaths were due to fentanyl, and the death toll is expected to rise exponentially over the next few years. [2] The United States Border Patrol is facing a drastic increase in illegal immigration as well as drug trafficking carried on by the various Mexican drug cartels. At the same time, China is making advances into the Pacific, building man-made islands into military bases, threatening invasion of their neighbor Taiwan, and regularly engaging in confrontations with U.S. military aircraft. [3] Though half a world apart, these issues are closely interconnected. Chinese manufacturers are the source of the vast majority of American fentanyl, feeding the Mexican cartels fentanyl precursors, which are being manufactured and shipped across the border into the United States. The cartels profit billions of dollars a year while simultaneously serving China as an act of asymmetric warfare against the U.S., costing the United States almost one trillion dollars a year in addition to the devastating death toll. [4] Though the two nations had been attempting to work through the issue for several years, the CCP suspended the bilateral negotiations on transnational crime and counternarcotics operations after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August of 2022. [5] Because of the growing fentanyl crisis and China’s uncooperation and aggression towards U.S. allies, the United States must continue a strong stance against Chinese fentanyl production and incentivize pharmaceutical manufacture in cooperative nations while simultaneously tightening security of the Southern Border. The U.S. must also recognize the ultimate solution to the opioid epidemic does not lie solely in economic sanctions or law enforcement but in social change, addiction treatment, and justice system reform.
Chinese Government Involvement
Though China claimed to be cooperating with the U.S. against drug trafficking, making a number of fentanyl ingredients illegal, no positive results have been realized, suggesting this cooperation was merely a front. Furthermore, open source reporting has revealed that legitimate Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturers are openly selling fentanyl precursors to any buyer, in full view of the Chinese government. [6] Of the 5,000 Chinese companies producing controlled pharmaceutical substances, China only inspected fifteen in 2017, making no apparent arrests or convictions based on fentanyl manufacture. [7] Investigative Journalist Ben Westhoff, who went undercover into Chinese fentanyl manufacturing facilities, claims that the CCP is actually endorsing and subsidizing some of these manufacturers. [8]
Though China claimed to be cooperating with the U.S. against drug trafficking, making a number of fentanyl ingredients illegal, no positive results have been realized, suggesting this cooperation was merely a front.
Chinese Motivation
Because of China’s ongoing interest in seizing Taiwan, and the U.S.’s continual stance against this aggression, China will likely not begin cooperating on this issue, but rather use it as asymmetric warfare to weaken Taiwan’s strongest ally. Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology in the Foreign Policy Program at Brookings, observes the unique relationship these criminal groups have with the Chinese government, noting, “Unlike their counterparts in Latin America, Chinese criminal groups rarely resort to murder. Moreover, they cultivate political capital with Chinese authorities and Chinese diplomats abroad by also promoting China’s political, strategic, and economic interests.” [9] At a time when China is becoming increasingly aggressive against Taiwan, they are clearly tolerating fentanyl manufacture and manipulating it as a weapon against the US populace.
Fentanyl Manufacturers’ Involvement with Cartels
Though China is responsible for manufacturing the vast majority of fentanyl in the United States, most of this product is being transported into the United States from Mexico across the Southern Border. [10] The struggle to act against the manufacturing and trafficking of fentanyl is exacerbated by the relationship these Chinese companies have with both the Chinese government and Mexican cartels. “Some Chinese sellers specifically cater to Mexican drug traffickers. As investigative C4ADS research showed, Chinese sellers bundle uncontrolled fentanyl and meth precursors and common cocaine fillers in their Spanish-language advertisements and highlight their capacities to ‘clear customs in Mexico.’” [11] The connection between the cartels and the Chinese is further confirmed with the U.S. arrest and conviction of several Chinese nationals who were involved in money laundering tens of millions of dollars for drug cartels. [12]
Transportation Into the U.S.
The extensive economic relationship between the U.S. and China makes it extremely difficult to halt the production of fentanyl at its source. China is a major supplier of legal pharmaceuticals, manufacturing as much as 97% of U.S. antibiotics. [13] This enables Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturers, who primarily produce legitimate products for the U.S. market, to add fentanyl to their shipments undetected. Neither China nor Mexico shows any initiative toward stopping the flow of fentanyl. The United States’ dependency on China for legitimate pharmaceuticals is a major reason why manufacturers are able to transport fentanyl to Mexico, and the U.S. Border Security issues result in that fentanyl making it into the United States. This relationship between America’s problematic neighbor as well as the most dangerous opposing world power makes any possible solution extremely difficult to implement.
Recommendation
Because of the growing fentanyl crisis and the U.S. alliance with Taiwan, the U.S. must take a particularly firm stance with China, while recognizing that they will likely never fully cooperate. In order to stem the flow of fentanyl the U.S. must tighten the security of the Southern Border, while simultaneously incentivizing pharmaceutical manufacture by U.S. companies as well as nations that will cooperate with U.S. law enforcement. The United States government must also recognize that legislation alone will not solve addiction in America. Even if the flow of fentanyl was completely cut off, criminals would produce or import another dangerous substance. Instead, this is a social issue that must be resolved at the individual level, and there is hope that addicts can recover. Near the end of the Vietnam War, about 1 in 5 U.S. servicemen were addicted to heroin; the Department of Defense anticipated a disaster when these men returned home. However, this fear turned out to be unfounded. Upon return, approximately 95% of the servicemen were cured of their addiction overnight, with only 12% relapsing in three years. [14] This was not due to any government program or legislation, and their example serves as a beacon of hope that there are legitimate solutions to America’s opioid crisis.
[1] Greg Murphy. “Murphy: ‘Fentanyl is killing more young Americans than COVID-19.” murphy.house.gov, 15 February 2022, https://murphy.house.gov/media/press-releases/murphy-fentanyl-killing-more-young-americans-covid-19
[2] Chris Gilligan. “Amid Apparent Drop in Drug Overdose Deaths, States See Varied Success.” U.S. News, 15 February 2023, https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-02-15/amid-apparent-drop-in-drug-overdose-deaths-states-see-varied-success
[3] Associated Press. “China has fully militarized three islands in South China Sea, US admiral says.” The Guardian, 20 March 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/21/china-has-fully-militarized-three-islands-in-south-china-sea-us-admiral-says
[4] Quinn Owen. “Overdose deaths cost US $1 trillion annually, bipartisan report finds.” trone.house.gov, 8 February 2022, https://trone.house.gov/2022/02/08/overdose-deaths-cost-us-1-trillion-annually/
[5] Epoch Times. “China’s Role in Illicit Fentanyl Running Rampant on US Streets.” Epoch Times, 8 January 2023, https://trone.house.gov/2023/01/08/chinas-role-in-illicit-fentanyl-running-rampant-on-us-streets/
[6] Epoch Times. “China’s Role in Illicit Fentanyl Running Rampant on US Streets.” Epoch Times, 8 January 2023, https://trone.house.gov/2023/01/08/chinas-role-in-illicit-fentanyl-running-rampant-on-us-streets/
[7] Bryce Pardo, Beau Kilmer. “China’s Ban on Fentanyl Drugs Won’t Likely Stem America’s Opioid Crisis.” The Rand Corporation, 22 May 2019, https://www.rand.org/blog/2019/05/chinas-ban-on-fentanyl-drugs-wont-likely-stem-americas.html
[8] Epoch Times. “China’s Role in Illicit Fentanyl Running Rampant on US Streets.” Epoch Times, 8 January 2023, https://trone.house.gov/2023/01/08/chinas-role-in-illicit-fentanyl-running-rampant-on-us-streets/
[9] Vanda Felbab-Brown. “China and synthetic drugs: Geopolitics trumps counternarcotics cooperation.” Brookings, 7 March 2022, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2022/03/07/china-and-synthetic-drugs-geopolitics-trumps-counternarcotics-cooperation/
[10] Vanda Felbab-Brown. “China and Synthetic Drugs Control.” Brookings, March 2022, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FP_20221107_drug_trafficking_felbab_brown.pdf
[11] Vanda Felbab-Brown. “China and synthetic drugs: Geopolitics trumps counternarcotics cooperation.” Brookings, 7 March 2022, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2022/03/07/china-and-synthetic-drugs-geopolitics-trumps-counternarcotics-cooperation/
[12] U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. “HSI Investigated Chinese national for laundering drug money.” Ice.gov, 27 April 2021, https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/hsi-investigated-chinese-national-laundering-drug-money
[13] Yanzhong Huang. “U.S. Dependence on Pharmaceutical Products From China.” Council on Foreign Relations, 14 August 2019, https://www.cfr.org/blog/us-dependence-pharmaceutical-products-china
[14] James Clear. “How Vietnam War Veterans Broke Their Heroin Addictions.” jamesclear.com, https://jamesclear.com/heroin-habits
