Fentanyl: China at the heart of deadly trafficking

US President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to drastically increase customs duties on Chinese imports, in the face of Beijing’s supposed passivity towards opioid trafficking responsible for a serious health crisis in the United States. .

The Republican tycoon accuses China of not doing enough to prevent the trafficking of fentanyl, a drug which according to American authorities has caused more than 70,000 deaths by overdose in 2023.

Beijing says it is very proactive in the fight against this phenomenon.

AFP takes stock of the situation.

What is fentanyl, and where does it come from?

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin and much easier and cheaper to produce.

It is the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18 to 45.

The DEA, the US drug enforcement agency, says that China is “the main source of precursor chemicals linked to fentanyl smuggled into the United States”.

Beijing strengthened controls in 2019, which made it possible to reduce direct traffic to the United States.

But according to the US Congressional Research Service, the precursor chemicals are now being sent to Mexico, where they are transformed into fentanyl before being smuggled into the United States.

These compounds are often legal in China, where they are used in the medical community as painkillers, complicating legal proceedings.

China affirms that there is “no illegal trafficking of fentanyl” between its territory and Mexico, but promises to strengthen controls and recalls that it is “one of the toughest countries in the world” against narcotics .

What is the United States’ reaction?

The Biden administration has made the fight against fentanyl one of its priorities.

In October, the government sanctioned dozens of China-based entities and individuals accused of being “the source of supply” for U.S. traffickers, dark web sellers and Mexican cartels.

The group, made up of companies located in Wuhan, elsewhere in mainland China as well as Hong Kong, is accused of having sent to Mexico and the United States a total of 900 kg of chemical precursors, seized by the authorities.

“The global trafficking of fentanyl, which results in the deaths of Americans, often begins in Chinese chemical plants,” said Merrick Garland, the US Attorney General.

Beijing called the sanctions a campaign of unjustified “pressure.”

What agreements have the two countries concluded?

Discussions on the fight against drugs have taken a hit due to Sino-American tensions.

But during a summit in November 2023 in San Francisco, American President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to restart discussions.

A working group on drug trafficking met in Washington this summer. China has announced tougher controls on three key fentanyl precursors.

But experts say traffickers are adapting quickly by creating new variants of chemicals before they are even identified and regulated.

Beijing is not being tough enough on companies involved in this trade, according to Vanda Felbab-Brown, an organized crime specialist at the American think tank Brookings Institution.

“We are still far from real indictments or solid prosecutions for money laundering or for sending precursors to Mexican cartels,” she says in a recent podcast.

Will tariffs be effective?

Donald Trump appears determined to take a hard line against China. But there is no guarantee that its tariffs will have the desired effect.

In response, China’s Foreign Ministry said the country “remains willing to continue anti-drug cooperation with the United States.”

But Beijing also called on the United States “not to take China’s goodwill for granted.”

Complex money laundering networks compound the problem. Several experts emphasize that only closer coordination efforts between Washington and Beijing can remedy this.

“International cartels are increasingly turning to Chinese gangs specializing in fast, inexpensive and secure laundering services,” says Zongyuan researcher Zoe Liu in a report published in September by the American research group Council on Foreign Relations. .