8 months ago
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(NewsNation) — Two Mexican drug cartels are chiefly liable for flooding the United States with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 80 times stronger than morphine that's sidesplitting implicit 200 Americans daily, authorities say.
The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels person established a blase proviso chain, sourcing precursor chemicals from China and manufacturing fentanyl successful clandestine Mexican labs earlier smuggling it crossed the U.S. border, according to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports.
No substance comes adjacent to the decease toll caused by fentanyl. It claims implicit 200 lives each time – that's the equivalent of a afloat airplane crashing daily.
DEA seizures item the escalating crisis.
In 2021, authorities confiscated 23 cardinal fentanyl pills and astir 7,000 pounds of powder. By 2023, those numbers surged to implicit 80 cardinal pills and astir 12,000 pounds of powder.
In 2024 alone, 37.7 cardinal pills and much than 5,400 pounds of fentanyl pulverization person been seized – capable to nutrient 269 cardinal lethal doses.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported fentanyl-related overdose deaths accrued from 70,000 successful 2021 to implicit 74,000 successful 2023, surpassing deaths from different drugs similar methamphetamine and cocaine.
Behind the statistic are tragic idiosyncratic stories. Stefanie Turner of Texas mislaid her lad Tucker to fentanyl poisoning aft helium purchased a azygous pill online portion struggling with slumber and anxiety.
"Fentanyl is taking a full procreation of superb minds," Turner said. "If you don't person medicine from a pharmacy, number that it has fentanyl. One pill does kill."
Government efforts to combat the situation are intensifying. California's task unit seized 8.8 million fentanyl pills this year, portion Texas present prosecutes fentanyl-related deaths arsenic murders.
The Biden medication has partnered with China to disrupt the proviso of precursor chemicals.
Despite these efforts, including high-profile arrests similar that of Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada successful July, the cartels person proven adaptable. They employment assorted tactics to evade detection, including mislabeled packages, encrypted messaging and cryptocurrency payments.
The cartels person proven resilient and adaptable, shifting their strategies to support power implicit a billion-dollar fentanyl commercialized that's ripping done communities and lives.
