Recently, a report by Reuters revealed that buyers in North America can order the core ingredient for producing fentanyl from Chinese chemical sellers with just a tap on their smartphones. The U.S. Department of Justice has stated that they will investigate companies and executives in China involved in supplying this chemical component.
Six weeks ago, a Reuters journalist ordered a kilogram of 1-Boc-4-piperidone, a pale powder known as the core ingredient for fentanyl, from a seller in China. This substance, also referred to as a “precursor,” can be used to produce a drug 50 times more potent than heroin through chemical reactions with other substances.
According to the Reuters investigation, anyone with a mailbox, internet connection, and access to digital currency can purchase these chemicals.
The synthetic fentanyl produced from these precursors, which are 50 times more toxic than heroin, claims the lives of tens of thousands of Americans annually.
The United States government has long accused China of exporting large quantities of fentanyl and other deadly drugs to the U.S., a claim denied by the Chinese government.
A report from the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party in the U.S. House of Representatives stated that the Chinese government provides subsidies to enterprises openly selling illegal synthetic drugs. State-owned enterprises have been involved in drug trafficking, a practice that the Chinese government has repeatedly denied knowledge of.
In October 2023, the U.S. government announced sanctions and indictments against at least 14 Chinese and Canadian companies involved in importing fentanyl into the U.S., with most of the companies being Chinese-based.
During the U.S.-China summit in November 2023, fentanyl became a significant issue in the bilateral relationship. An agreement was reached between the two nations, with China committing to crack down on companies selling precursor chemicals for fentanyl to prevent illegal fentanyl flows into the U.S.
Following the summit, U.S. officials criticized China for not doing enough to curb drug trafficking, while the Chinese Communist Party countered, blaming America’s opioid crisis on internal issues.
To understand how the supply chain for this drug operates, Reuters journalists purchased the necessary chemicals for fentanyl production over the past year, with most shipments arriving smoothly like any other mail package. The journalists also acquired secondary ingredients for processing basic precursors and essential equipment, providing everything needed to produce fentanyl.
Converting these precursors into fentanyl requires only basic laboratory skills and chemical knowledge. A 12-year-old dropout fentanyl manufacturer from Mexico told Reuters, “It’s like cooking chicken soup, making this drug is super easy.”
Through in-depth investigation, Reuters uncovered the international fentanyl supply chain, revealing the U.S., Mexico, and China as the main players in a deadly triangle where these countries serve as the largest consumer market, manufacturing hub, and raw material supplier for fentanyl.
The investigation by Reuters exposed the names of Chinese sellers, their methods of shipping chemicals to North America, and how these packages evade customs checks in Mexico and the U.S. The ease with which journalists purchased drug-making chemicals and equipment exposed loopholes in global regulatory frameworks.
According to Reuters’ report, Chinese sellers can swiftly airship fentanyl precursors upon a simple tap of buyers’ smartphones, sometimes mislabeling these precursors as small items, cosmetics, or ordinary goods. These packages are loaded onto planes filled with nearly identical cheap export boxes, with tens of millions shipped from China annually.
Airports in Mexico and the U.S. serve as primary destinations, where packages containing precursors often pass through customs along with other goods.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice, Wyn Hornbuckle, stated in a written declaration that the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration will continue actively investigating and prosecuting every link in the fentanyl supply chain, including chemical companies and executives in China involved in supplying this lethal drug component.