The United States has detected that Colombia and Ecuador also participate in the production or trafficking of fentanyl, in addition to Mexico, as explained this Tuesday by the anti-narcotics chief of the State Department, Todd Robinson.
“Mexico is the main port of entry but we know that There are other countries that participate in the supply chain, such as Colombia and Ecuador. There are also suppliers in Asia. There are several points that are affecting the United States,” she said.
The anti-narcotics chief stressed that the production chain of this powerful synthetic opioid that has caused thousands of deaths in the United States begins in China, where chemicals used to make drugs are sold.
These precursors reach America, mainly to the Mexican cartels, who make fentanyl and send it to United States territory, he added.
Robinson gave these statements in New York, where he participated in an event of the global coalition against synthetic drugs organized by the United States on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
(Read also: The United States certified Colombia’s performance in the fight against drugs)
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin. Last year, more than 70,000 people died from this substance in the United States, so Washington has redoubled pressure on Mexico to fight the cartels and has asked China to control the chemical precursors of fentanyl.
The United States and Colombia can still do more in terms of drug seizures
On the other hand, the anti-narcotics chief said that The United States is “analyzing” the new anti-drug plan presented by the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, who seeks to stop persecuting small coca leaf growers and attacking drug trafficking organizations.
(You can read: Why does Washington, despite its distance from Gustavo Petro, still need Colombia?)
The official said that the Colombian Government “has not ignored” crop eradications, despite the fact that plantations have reached record numbers, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
But he admitted that the United States and Colombia can still “do more” in terms of drug seizures.
“The Colombian Government wants to provide greater security to the citizens of rural areas of Colombia and we want to help in this,” said Robinson.
The fight against fentanyl in the US
This Tuesday it was also announced that the United States will present a resolution at the end of this year at the United Nations General Assembly that calls on the international community to combat trafficking in fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced that Joe Biden’s Government will also appoint a special envoy for issues dedicated to combating
fentanyl and will work with technology companies to pursue online sales of that substance.
Blinken made this announcement at an event with representatives of a hundred countries that form the global coalition to combat synthetic drugs led by the United States and who met in New York on the occasion of the High Level Week of the General Assembly of the ONU.
(Keep reading: The strategies that the United States would be applying to avoid deaths from fentanyl)
There is no issue that requires international cooperation as urgently as this one.
The Secretary of State explained that fentanyl overdose is the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18 to 49 and warned that this phenomenon is expanding throughout the world.
He gave as examples the increase in trafficking and consumption of tamadol in Africa, of Captagon in the Middle East, ketamine in Asia, as well as recent seizures of synthetic drugs in the European Union and Australia.
“There is no issue that requires international cooperation as urgently as this one. But I am convinced that if we work together, we can save lives,” Blinken said.
*With EFE
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