Fentanyl trafficking increased significantly between 2017 and 2020.
Photo: SAUL LOEB/ / Getty Images
President Joe Biden’s Administration launches a new strategy against fentanyl trafficking, in addition to fighting money laundering and the use of legally established companies by organized crime.
This new approach is part of the National Drug Control Strategy to try to defeat the epidemic of overdoses and opioids that kill more than 80,000 people annually.
“Strong measures will be taken against the production, sale, and trafficking of illicit fentanyl,” the White House states in its plan.
The Biden Administration acknowledges that illicit synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl and its analogues, are the leading cause of overdose deaths.
“The nature of these drugs and their ease of access and potency present a threat to national security, public safety and health,” it says.
With its new strategy, the Biden Administration starts from the recognition that criminal organizations use legal marketing networks to distribute the drug and obtain profits.
“(Criminal organizations) regularly exploit legal global commercial distribution networks to sustain and enhance their illicit business,” it is acknowledged.
1. The world plan.- The Biden Administration emphasizes the importance of global coordination with its allies against the fentanyl trade. “Through the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the United States is building a global coalition to accelerate efforts against illicit synthetic drugs using bilateral and multilateral approaches,” he said.
2. Background investigation.- Greater coordination between intelligence agencies and state and local authorities will help improve efforts, the plan says. “Improved coordination and information/intelligence sharing across the federal government and with state, territorial, local, and tribal partners is essential to strengthen our ongoing investigation,” it said.
3. Monitor companies.- The Biden Administration recognizes that criminal organizations use a wide network of legally established companies to operate. “Illicit drug traffickers often use legitimate business enterprises to access significant capital resources, collaborate with suppliers of raw materials across borders,” it is acknowledged.
4. Money laundering.- To maintain their operation, criminal organizations launder billions of dollars, so the new approach of the Biden Administration outlines avoiding this irregular monetization. “The Biden-Harris Administration will expand its efforts to disrupt the illicit financial activities that fund these criminals by increasing accountability measures, including financial sanctions, on key targets to obstruct drug traffickers’ access to the US financial system. UU. and illicit financial flows”, was exposed.
5. Better Laws.- The Biden Administration asks Congress to close the gap that allows criminal organizations to acquire the precursors for the production of fentanyl. “Traffickers continually alter the chemical structure of fentanyl to evade regulation and prosecution under the Analogue Law, sometimes with tragic results,” recalls the Government.
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