Blinken under pressure to push China on role in lethal fentanyl trade when he visits Beijing

[applegrove]

Blinken under pressure to push China on role in lethal fentanyl trade when he visits Beijing

By Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler, CNN
Published 2:58 PM EST, Thu February 2, 2023

CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/02/politics/blinken-china-fentanyl/index.html

"SNIP......

Members of Congress are urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to pressure China to do more to curb the flow of fentanyl and synthetic opioids into the United States on his visit to the country which is expected to take place in the next few days.

On Wednesday, a group of 14 Republican senators led by Marco Rubio of Florida wrote to Blinken ahead of his trip highlighting China’s role in the “fentanyl crisis” as one of many issues they wanted him to address.

More than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses from July of 2021 to July of 2022 and two thirds of those deaths were fueled by synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, according to the CDC.

An extremely powerful synthetic drug, fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin.

........SNIP"

[kysrsoze]

1. It should be a given stance, rather than being pressured.

He should tell Jinping we're going to start shipping live grenades and anthrax if they don't stop the raw materials shipments.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. 100,000 Americans die PER YEAR of drug overdoses?

That's a tragic and shocking number. I had no idea it was that high a figure.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Why would China stop the drug trade to the US?

[Brother Buzz]

4. Secretary of State Antony Blinken needs to visit India, too

A lot of the underground/illicit fentanyl production has been shifting to India.

[applegrove]

5. Did not know that.

[sir pball]

6. My understanding is that Asia, China/India, is supplying the precursor chemicals

The cartels, particularly the Sinaloa and Jalisco groups, are buying up the chemicals through front companies, legally importing and then diverting them, and cooking the fentanyl themselves; it's a pretty trivial process and it's much easier and more profitable than trying to ship the finished product halfway across the globe.

https://insightcrime.org/news/mexico-sinaloa-cartel-cjng-chemical-suppliers-fentanyl/

[Brother Buzz]

7. Some of the Mexican cartels receive pure finished Fentanyl in powder form....

India, cut it, then run it through their pill presses. Easy Peasy.

Beijing has placed some restrictions on the precursor chemicals, making illicit production more difficult, and the reason India has picked up the slack.