Making $3,000,000 in Drugs in the US is Easy

Reuters journalists conducted a classic journalistic investigation in an attempt to understand how online trade and the availability of chemical recipes on the Internet can contribute to the fentanyl drug epidemic in the United States.

The journalists did it simply: they found a recipe for making fentanyl from precursors on the Internet. Then they found Chinese suppliers of these precursors and placed orders. All the goods were paid for in bitcoins and imported to Mexico through postal companies, and customs did not raise any questions.

Then the substances were imported into the United States. And again, zero reaction from customs authorities. As a result, the journalists ended up with $3 million worth of chemicals that could be used to make fentanyl pills (the kind that are mostly sold on the streets to addicts).

The total cost of purchasing and shipping the precursors was $3,607. Reuters writes: “The fentanyl business is largely a three-country trade system, with the United States, Mexico and China forming a toxic triangle as the biggest consumers, producers and suppliers of the illicit drug.

A Reuters investigation has uncovered the names of the Chinese sellers, the methods they use to ship their chemicals to North America and how the packages evade customs inspections in Mexico and the United States.

The ease with which reporters bought the chemicals and equipment to make the drugs highlights gaps in global regulations and shows how law enforcement agencies are scrambling to catch up as the opioid market is transforming.”

Opioid overdoses have become one of the leading causes of drug addiction deaths in the United States in the past 5 years. In 2023, 75,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses, mostly between the ages of 18 and 45. So Trump is certainly right that drugs are mostly coming through the southern border, and that Chinese suppliers of chemicals and equipment believe that money has no smell, but , of course, the main reason is the rampant drug addiction in the United States, which is a social phenomenon, not a logistical one.

However, the liberal policy regarding the open border and legalization currently reduces to almost zero any attempt to do something about this problem.

This article is not an advertisement or propaganda for drugs. Drugs are evil that kills.