President Biden’s recent announcement of a deal with China to curb fentanyl has been met with criticism from the DemandZEO Foundation founder Lisa Deane, who claims that the president was not bold enough in his approach. In response to the growing concern over the trafficking of illicit fentanyl into the country, the U.S. Treasury Department has launched a new Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force. This initiative aims to bring together personnel, expertise, intelligence, and resources from key Treasury offices to combat the flow of deadly fentanyl into communities across the United States.
The Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force will be jointly led by the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI) and IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) and will leverage the Treasury Department’s expertise in fighting financial crime. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen emphasized that disrupting the ability of drug traffickers to peddle fentanyl in the country is a top priority for President Biden and the Treasury Department. Yellen further stated that the department will utilize every available tool to combat this deadly epidemic.
As part of their efforts, Yellen will be promoting the new strike force during a visit to Mexico City, where she plans to discuss with government and private sector leaders the need to stop illicit fentanyl financing that fuels the drug trade and boosts supply chains. The Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force will focus on analyzing the financial flows of trafficking organizations, particularly those that rely on cryptocurrency for fund movement. It will also collaborate with local law enforcement agencies in areas heavily affected by the fentanyl epidemic and utilize financial institution records to identify transactions related to drug and human smuggling.
The strike force will be chaired by Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson and Chief James Lee of CI. Nelson assured that the task force would act swiftly and decisively, leveraging the expertise of specialists across the department to respond to emerging threats.
The Biden administration’s increased attention on combating illegal fentanyl comes in the wake of the November meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where China committed to curtail shipments of materials used to produce fentanyl to Latin America. China has also resumed sharing information about suspected trafficking with an international database. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, China and Mexico are the primary source countries for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the United States. China supplies most of the precursor chemicals needed to produce fentanyl, while Mexico facilitates the illicit transportation of the drug across the southern border.
Fentanyl has become the deadliest drug in the United States, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that approximately 71,000 people died from overdosing on synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, in 2021. This number represents a significant increase from the previous year.
The creation of the Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force and Secretary Yellen’s visit to Mexico are part of the Biden administration’s efforts to address the fentanyl crisis. These actions also come ahead of the 2024 presidential election, where many GOP candidates have expressed their willingness to use military force against Mexico in response to fentanyl trafficking and the presence of synthetic opioids.
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