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A2 u.s. news
Wednesday 26 april 2023

More sanctions for deadly fentanyl if bill becomes law

By FATIMA HUSSEIN dous economic gain to be which is tasked with com-
Associated Press made," said Paul DelPonte, bating illicit drug traffick-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Over executive director of the ing. Nearly all the precursor
the past year, the U.S. Trea- nonprofit National Crime chemicals that are needed
sury Department has used Prevention Council, which to make fentanyl are com-
its sanctions powers to im- is pushing for tougher ac- ing from China.
pose wide-ranging finan- tion against those behind Growing tensions between
cial penalties on Russia in the scourge of drug over- the U.S. and China on mul-
response to its invasion of dose and death. "There are tiple fronts have made ef-
Ukraine — turning Russia a lot of hands involved in forts to stop the importa-
into the most sanctioned this crime." tion of illicit fentanyl more
country in the world. Fentanyl is the deadliest difficult, a Congressional
Now, the federal agency is drug in the U.S. today. The Research Service report
facing increasing pressure, Centers for Disease Con- states. China officially sus-
including from legislation trol and Prevention esti- pended its counternarcot-
introduced Tuesday in the mates that 71,000 people ic and law enforcement The Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, May 4, 2021.
Senate, to use those tools died from overdosing on cooperation with the U.S. Associated Press
with similar vigor against synthetic opioids such as last August.
the people, financial in- fentanyl in 2021, up from al- Treasury hasn't been idle. tors. But with the number of cisive action to cut off the
stitutions and companies most 58,000 in 2020. The department has im- overdose deaths explod- deadly flow of fentanyl at
that have participated in Mexico and China are the posed sanctions on fentan- ing in recent years, there the source," said Sen Tim
the explosion of fentanyl primary source countries yl producers and traffickers are calls for more action, Scott of South Carolina, the
use and distribution in the for fentanyl and fentanyl- in recent years — and as including a national emer- ranking Republican on the
U.S. related substances traf- recently as this month is- gency declaration similar Banking Committee and a
"As a matter of policy we ficked directly into the U.S., sued a set of sanctions on to the one at the start of potential GOP presidential
are dealing with drug car- according to the Drug En- a group of Mexican and the COVID-19 pandemic. candidate.
tels who have tremen- forcement Administration, Chinese fentanyl distribu- Such a declaration could Committee Chairman Sher-
lead to tougher sanctions, rod Brown, D-Ohio, said he
DelPonte said. hears "over and over that
"It would empower the we need new, more pow-
CDC to collaborate with erful tools to prevent the
people at Treasury, for in- flow of fentanyl into our
stance, to save some very neighborhoods." Fentanyl
young innocent people." was involved in 81% of 2020
Lawmakers are making a overdose deaths in Ohio,
bipartisan effort to get that according to the Ohio De-
declaration, with legisla- partment of Health.
tion sponsored by the lead- "This bipartisan bill will add
ers and ranking members effective new sanctions
of the Senate Banking and to target the illicit fentanyl
Armed Services Commit- supply chain, from China
tees that was introduced through Mexico, to help
Tuesday. That bill would stop increasingly danger-
compel the Biden adminis- ous forms of this drug be-
tration to prioritize the fight fore they ever reach our
against fentanyl trafficking communities," Brown said.
and prod Treasury to use its In his February State of the
sanctions authority to quell Union address, President
the proliferation of the drug Joe Biden outlined how
in the U.S. his administration would
Declaring international fen- crack down on trafficking.
tanyl trafficking a national Since then, U.S. Customs
emergency, the legislation and Border Protection has
would require Treasury to conducted historically
sanction drug cartels It also large seizure operations,
would impose reporting and Treasury and the Jus-
requirements and enable tice Department have
the president to confiscate sanctioned and charged
sanctioned property of fen- Mexican Sinaloa cartel
tanyl traffickers to use for members that use Chinese
law enforcement efforts. precursor chemicals to pro-
"This legislation takes de- duce fentanyl.q