The first killer of Americans..Why did Blinken talk about fentanyl from Beijing?

At the end of his two-day “ice-breaking” visit to Beijing, he revealed US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken He strongly touched on the importance of treating the “fentanyl” profile. He stressed that he had made it clear to the Chinese side that his country needed a greater degree of cooperation in order to stop the flow of that narcotic substance to the United States.

He also added that it was agreed to establish a working group concerned with this file!

Blinkin and drugs?

The first killer

So what is the fentanyl that Blinken described as the number one killer of American youth?

It is a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine, but 50 to 100 times stronger!

It is also prescribed as a prescription drug, like morphine, for patients with unbearable pain, especially after surgery. It is also sometimes used to treat patients with severe chronic pain

However, it is also used as a drug in illegal ways, and here is its danger!

Together with other opioid-like drugs, it is the number one cause of death in the United States.

Overdose and certain death

It affects the brain greatly, and an overdose may lead to unconsciousness and even death.

When a user takes an overdose of fentanyl, his breathing can slow or stop, reducing the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain, and subsequently causing coma, permanent brain damage, or even death.

Fentanyl (AFP)

Mexican organizations

But how does he enter or escape into the country, away from the eyes of the anti-drug authorities?

Perhaps the answer lies in a detailed briefing published by the US Drug Enforcement Committee (DEA) on its official website.

It indicated that China remains the main source of trafficking in fentanyl and related substances through express freight and other export routes.

Photo courtesy of the US Drug Enforcement Agency

It also indicated that the Mexican criminal smuggling organizations that are active in this field bring in the drug from Chinese territory. Those organizations and smuggling networks are working on producing increasing amounts of fentanyl in all forms (tablets, etc.) in secret laboratories and with advanced treatment methods, to defraud the anti-drug authorities.

Although the Chinese authority tightened its grip on these substances in 2019, after it classified fentanyl and all its derivatives as drugs, the smuggling routes are still “operating”.

Quantities are exported directly from China to the drug market in the United States, or to Canadian territory, or Mexico, from where they are later smuggled and enter US territory through drug networks, which often mix heroin or other narcotic liquids!