Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host
In American History, allegations of the CIA using drug trafficking to help fund some of its operations have emerged often. One wonders if the Democrats moved the War on Terror from Iraq to Afghanistan to protect their own opium trade. Donald Trump’s border wall would do more than help with curbing the flow of illegal aliens. It will also reduce the flow of drugs across the border. One wonders if that could be one of the reasons the Democrats are so against it.
But, what about looking at this thing about drugs on the other hand. Could drug warfare be something that is being committed against the United States by a foreign power?
While the U.S. Government has recognized the problem, and has put into place an increase in its crackdown on fentanyl, the reality is that the problem remains and is increasing. Since the primary source is China, one wonders if the flood of fentanyl into the United States may also accompany a political aim built on a Chinese strategy to undermine and sicken the U.S. population?
It also allows the Chinese to influence political operations, encouraging the U.S. Government to pour federal money on the problem while creating an issue that places the political parties at odds with each other.
That all said, China denies that most of the illicit fentanyl entering the United States originates in China.
While fentanyl is nothing new, the recent surge in usage and overdose deaths is. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the number of deaths have increased by the thousands. Many of the recent cases are linked to “illegally made fentanyl,” the CDC has said. One thing is for sure, its potency is amazingly high. Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
CBP Enforcement Statistics reveal that fiscal year seizures of illicit fentanyl spiked from about one kilogram (2.2 pounds) in 2013 to nearly 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) in 2018. The number of law enforcement fentanyl seizures in the United States also vaulted from about 1,000 in 2013 to more than 59,000 in 2017.
In August, the Mexican navy found 52,000 pounds of fentanyl powder in a container from a Danish ship that was coming from Shanghai.
“There is clear evidence that fentanyl or fentanyl precursors, chemicals used to make fentanyl, is coming from China,” Dr. Andrew Kolodny, co-director of Opioid Policy Research at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, told The Epoch Times.