Despite President Joe Biden’s alleged commitment to combat illegal drug trafficking, recent statistics indicate that the issue remains rampant and continues to have devastating effects on Americans. During the first half of 2023 alone, approximately 38,000 deaths were attributed to fentanyl, underscoring the severity of the crisis.
In 2022, President Biden announced his National Drug Control Strategy, aiming to address untreated addiction and enhance law enforcement capabilities to tackle drug traffickers. “The Strategy prioritizes a targeted response to drug traffickers and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) by hitting them where it hurts the most: their wallets,” the White House stated in a press release at the time.
However, a recent report from The Hill highlights the dominance of two powerful Mexican drug cartels, Sinaloa and Jalisco, which have effectively eliminated competition in drug trafficking in 2024. These cartels are primarily responsible for the distribution of fentanyl, which is causing approximately 200 American deaths per day.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released a report last month detailing an alliance between the Sinaloa Cartel and money launderers linked to Chinese underground banking. The Justice Department announced a 10-count superseding indictment against Los Angeles-based associates of the Sinaloa Cartel, accusing them of conspiring with these money-laundering groups to process drug trafficking proceeds. “During the conspiracy, more than $50 million in drug proceeds flowed between the Sinaloa Cartel associates and Chinese underground money exchanges,” the DEA revealed.
China is identified as the primary source of chemicals used by Mexican cartels to manufacture fentanyl. The DEA has described fentanyl as the “nation’s greatest and most urgent drug threat.” The agency’s 2024 national drug threat assessment reported a near doubling of fentanyl powder seizures over the past two years, with 13,176 kilograms (29,048 pounds) of fentanyl seized in 2023.
Despite the Biden administration’s strategies and efforts, the surge in illegal drug trafficking and the resulting fatalities highlight the ongoing challenge in combating this epidemic. The statistics paint a grim picture of the current state of drug trafficking and its impact on American lives.