Seventeen entities from China, Mexico slapped with US sanctions for production of counterfeit fentanyl pills

As many as 17 entities and individuals in China and Mexico have been slapped with sanctions by the US over their involvement in the illegal production of counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills. The move comes after President Joe Biden and his administration vowed to strictly monitor imports of one of the most deadly drugs. The Treasury Department said it slapped sanctions on seven entities and six people based in China, as well as one business and three people based in Mexico. The department revealed that the individuals were involved in the sale of pill press machines and other equipment used to counterfeit trade markings like Xanax and M30 onto illicitly produced pills, often laced with fentanyl and destined for the United States.

“Treasury’s sanctions target every stage of the deadly supply chain fueling the surge in fentanyl poisonings and deaths across the country,” Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement.

“Counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl constitute a leading cause of these deaths, devastating thousands of American families each year. We remain committed to using all authorities against enablers of illicit drug production to disrupt this deadly global production and counter the threat posed by these drugs.”

Synthetic opioid fentanyl-related deaths have skyrocketed in the US since 2016 through 2021, according to a report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released this month.

Surpassing hard drugs like heroin and morphine, fentanyl is over 50 to 100 times stronger. It has increasingly been laced with other illicit drugs causing lethal consequences.

The Biden administration has been pushing for action as US drug-related overdose deaths surpassed 100,000 in 2021, according to government estimates.

With respect to this, Washington has been urging Beijing to stop the illicit trade of fentanyl “precursor” chemicals from China. However, US officials have told Reuters that their Chinese counterparts have been reluctant to even cooperate.

The spokesperson for China’s Washington embassy, Liu Pengyu, condemned the Treasury move, saying Washington had “brazenly sanctioned Chinese individuals and entities” and this would “add more obstacles to China-US counter-narcotics cooperation.”

Liu called it “a serious violation of the lawful rights and interests of the companies and individuals concerned” and said Washington was attempting to deflect blame instead of working to reduce the demand and strengthen the management of prescription drugs.

With inputs from agencies

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