How does Fentanyl enter the US?

President Donald Trump has imposed extensive tariffs on Chinese goods, citing Beijing’s inability to stop the export of chemicals used in the production of the powerful opioid fentanyl.

The United States has long accused Chinese corporations of deliberately supplying groups involved in the creation of the drug. Beijing pulled away with his own tariffs.

The White House also accused Canada and Mexico of failing to prevent criminal gangs from smuggling fentanyl in the United States.

Trump had planned tariffs against both sides, but he ended this threat after winning some discounts on increased border security.

Fentanyl is a synthetic medicine made from a combination of chemicals. US regulators approved it for medical use as a relief for pain in the 1960s, but since then it has become the main medicine responsible for the death of opioid overdose in the United States.

Over 74,000 Americans died in 2023 after taking mixtures of fentanyl -containing medicines, According to US Disease Control Centers (CDC)S

It is often mixed with other illegal medicines, which causes many users not to know that the substances they consume contain fentanyl.

Up to two milligrams of fentanyl – approximately the size of the pencil tip – can be fatal.

Over the last decade, the global supply chain for fentanyl has expanded, making it difficult to control law enforcement agencies and politicians.

China is the main source of predecessors chemicals used to produce fentanyl.

Since September 4500 pounds (2.040 kg) have been seized in the United States as per the Figures published by US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP)S

Almost all (98%) were captured on the southwestern border with Mexico. Less than 1% were seized across the northern border of the United States with Canada. The rest is from marine routes or other control points in the United States.

According to the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Mexican Crime Organizations – including Sinaloa Cartel – – Play a key role in the production and provision of fentanylMethamphetamine and other illegal drugs in the United States.

The chemicals used to make fentanyl are obtained from China by traffickers and become the finished product in laboratories in Mexico before being smuggled in the United States.

According to DEA, Sinaloa cartel uses various tactics to conceal shipments coming to Mexico, such as hiding chemicals among legal commercial goods, mislead containers, using front companies and delivery through third countries.

The Trump administration has accused the Mexican government of faced with drug addicts. Mexico Shainbaum’s president says the allegations are “slander.”

In December, shortly after Trump threatened Mexico with tariffs, the country’s security forces declared their most delicate seizure of fentanyl – equivalent to about 20 million doses.

In 2019, China classified fentanyl as a controlled drug and later added some of the chemicals used to prepare the list.

However, trade in other chemicals involved in the production of fentanyl – some of which may have legitimate goals – remain uncontrolled, as those involved in trade find new ways to avoid the law.

A review of several accusations in the United States, which include details of undercover agents communicating with Chinese manufacturers, suggests that some chemical companies in China are selling chemicals – including controlled – with the knowledge that they are intended to make fentanyl.

Dozens of BBC reviews have been verifying detailed cases where Chinese manufacturers have provided instructions on how to make fantanyl of products they sell through encrypted platforms and cryptocurrency payments.

“So you have those massive doors where criminals participate in the sale of legal products, but they deliberately sell them to criminal subjects,” says Wanda Felbab-Brown, a senior foreign policy at the Brukings Institute.

In a statement, China said there were some of the most stringent drug laws in the world and conducted joint operations with the United States in the past.

“The US must look at and solve their own problem with fentanyl,” the message said.

And while China remains the main source of chemicals used to prepare fentanyl, DEA also identified India as an emerging major source For these chemicals.

On January 2025, two chemical companies in India were charged with supplying chemicals used to prepare fentanyl in the US and Mexico.

President Trump has accused Canada – along with Mexico for allowing “a huge number of people to enter and enter fentanyl” in the United States.

According to US customs and border patrol data, only about 0.2% of all fentanyl seizures entering the United States were made at the Canadian border, almost all others were confiscated at the US border with Mexico.

But in January, the financial intelligence agency in Canada announced that organized criminal groups in Canada are more and more involved in the production of fentanyl by importing chemicals used to manufacture IT and laboratory equipment from China.

Fentanyl trade is carried out in both directions. During the first 10 months of 2024, the Canadian Border Service reported a seizure of 10.8 pounds (4.9 kg) fantanyl entering the United States while the US border patrol captures 32.1 pounds (14.6 kg) fantany, coming in from Canada.

In December, the country promised $ 1.3 billion ($ 900 million; £ 700 million) to combat fentanyl and raise border security.

Additional reporting from Lucy Guilder.