By Entorno and AFP | 2023-09-22

WASHINGTON -- US President Joe Biden formally included China last week in the roster of countries involved in drug transit and production.

He reiterated accusations against Venezuela and Bolivia, saying they have failed to meet their obligations in the fight against narcotics.

The detailed list, outlined in a memorandum directed on Friday (September 15) to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, encompasses Afghanistan, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

China's inclusion became feasible because of a modification in US legislation, broadening its scope to encompass source countries of precursor chemicals used to produce illicit drugs.

The United States made this decision primarily with fentanyl in mind, a synthetic opioid accountable for a significant portion of the more than 109,000 overdose-related deaths in the country in 2022, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The United States strongly urges the PRC [People's Republic of China] and other chemical source countries to tighten chemical supply chains and prevent diversion," Biden says in the memo.

According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a significant majority of chemical precursors originate in China and ultimately find their way into the possession of Mexican drug cartels.

This is why Biden emphasizes in the memorandum that "no country is more important than Mexico" in the battle against drugs.

South American producers

Concerning Colombia, Biden warned that "illicit coca cultivation and cocaine production remain at historically high levels."

He urged the government of leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro "to expand its presence in coca-producing regions and achieve sustainable progress against criminal organizations."

The memorandum said that countries are included on the list based on "the combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to be transited or produced, even if a government has engaged in robust and diligent narcotics control and law enforcement measures."

Biden reaffirmed that Bolivia, Burma and Venezuela have "failed demonstrably" to comply with their international obligations in the fight against narcotics over the last 12 months. He stressed that support programs for these countries "are vital to the national interests of the United States."

Biden encouraged the government of leftist Bolivian President Luis Arce to take "additional steps," including "reducing illicit coca cultivation that continues to exceed legal limits," and to "continue expanding cooperation with international partners" in order to effectively disrupt transnational criminal networks.

Notably, Afghanistan was removed from the list of countries that have "failed demonstrably" this year because of its progress "in reducing the cultivation of opium poppy and production of illicit narcotics."

Fentanyl, a highly addictive synthetic opioid, is produced cheaply in laboratories and has flooded the streets of the United States, causing an epidemic with lethal consequences.

Originating in China

In 2022, the DEA seized 379 million doses of fentanyl.

"These seizures [are] enough deadly doses of fentanyl to kill every American," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement on December 16.

"Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person's body size, tolerance and past usage," according to a DEA fact sheet.

The Mexican cartels of Sinaloa and Jalisco are in charge of trafficking the drug to the United States, Milgram said, after they receive from China the chemicals needed to produce the opioid.

The opioid continues to gain ground, and its rise has radically disrupted the drug trafficking market in Mexico, displacing heroin and marijuana.