U.S. Ambassador to China Says Chinese Communist Party is Not Contributing to the Fentanyl Crisis

(TotalConservative.com) – On Thursday, the Biden administration’s ambassador to China told reporters that fentanyl is not being pushed into the U.S. by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The People’s Republic of China Ambassador Nicholas Burns said the CCP is not directly contributing to the worsening crisis of fentanyl distribution and consumption in the U.S. Burns said private firms in China are actually responsible, not the government in Beijing.

Nearly 200 Americans are killed by the drug every day, according to data from the Department of Justice. Yet, there is no way for Americans to take legal action against the distributors in China even if the manufacturing is primarily taking place there.

Burns stated that Chinese firms on the black market are shipping the chemicals that are a precursor to the drug into Central America. Mexican cartels are primarily responsible for manufacturing the drug itself, which is then smuggled over the U.S.-Mexico border.

The crisis is becoming more serious and a point of contention between Republicans, who support strict border control, and Democrats, who support looser border policies that Republicans claim are contributing to the worsening situation. When President Joe Biden acknowledged the crisis in his last State of the Union address in February, many Republicans called him out on his hypocrisy due to his border policies.

Over the last year, almost 14,000 pounds of the drug have been seized by law enforcement. On Sunday, a man from Ohio was busted in New York City with $5 million worth of fentanyl stashed inside the gas tank of an SUV with Texas license plates.

Only a tiny amount of fentanyl is required to overdose – about 2 milligrams. Such accidental deaths by overdose are now a leading cause of death among teenagers, young adults, and middle-aged people. With the termination of Title 42 just days away, Republicans are not only fearing the coming surge of migrants that will follow, but the increase in drug smuggling that may also result.

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