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1 1 (February 13, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveoiq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congres &onaI Research Se informing Ih legislative debat s in e 1914 Updated February 13, 2024 China Primer: Illicit Fentanyl and China's Role In the context of the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States, illicit fentanyl is both a domestic and a foreign policy issue for Congress. In addressing the international dimension, policymakers have endeavored to stop foreign- sourced fentanyl, fentanyl-related substances (i.e., analogues), and chemical inputs (i.e., precursors) from entering the United States. Early in the rise of U.S. illicit fentanyl use, beginning in the mid-2010s, U.S. authorities identified the People's Republic of China (PRC, or China) as the primary source of illicit fentanyl entering the United States. Since 2019, direct flows appear to have largely ceased. The focus of U.S. counternarcotics policy with regard to China has shifted to preventing PRC-sourced fentanyl precursors, along with manufactured or synthetic drugs often mixed with fentanyl substances, from entering the U.S.-bound fentanyl supply chain. The U.S. government also seeks to prevent illicit exports of pill presses from the PRC and illicit fentanyl-related financial flows linked to China. A November 2023 summit in California between President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and China's leader, Xi Jinping, renewed cooperation on drug control issues after more than three years of stasis. Background Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid that has been used medically as a painkiller and an anesthetic since it was first synthesized in 1959. Due to fentanyl's potential for abuse and addiction, the United Nations (U.N.) placed it under international control in 1964. Domestically, fentanyl is regulated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), pursuant to the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, as amended (21 U.S.C. §§801 et seq.). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl-related substances) may have resulted in more than 78,000 U.S. overdose deaths between September 2022 and August 2023. Traffickers appear to be marketing a growing number of fentanyl analogues for nonmedical, often unregulated, use. As of November 2023, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)-an independent expert body that monitors governments' compliance with U.N. drug control conventions-reported the existence of 153 fentanyl-related substances with no currently-known legitimate uses. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that laboratories could potentially synthesize thousands of other fentanyl analogues. As of May 2023, more than 30 fentanyl-related substances, including precursors, are subject to international control (scheduled) pursuant to the U.N. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, as amended, and the U.N. Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. U.N. member states first subjected fentanyl precursors to international control in 2017, agreeing to list the precursors N-Phenethyl-4-piperidone (NPP) and 4-Anilino-N- phenethylpiperidine (ANPP) on Table I of the 1988 Convention. In 2018, consistent with the U.N. decision, the PRC implemented corresponding domestic controls. In 2022, U.N. member states subjected three additional fentanyl precursors to international control: N-Phenyl-4- piperidinamine (4-AP), tert-Butyl 4-(phenylamino) piperidine-1-carboxylate (boc-4-AP), and norfentanyl. In June 2023, the PRC government said it was in the process of scheduling three additional fentanyl precursors- presumably those the U.N. scheduled in 2022-but the PRC has provided no further information. Sources and Trafficking Pathways Prior to 2019, the DEA identified China as the primary source of U.S.-bound illicit fentanyl, fentanyl-related substances, and production equipment. PRC traffickers supplied fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances directly to the United States via international mail or express consignment operations. Trafficking patterns changed after the PRC imposed class- wide controls over all fentanyl-related substances in 2019. Today, DEA alleges that PRC-based chemical companies advertise and sell online fentanyl precursor chemicals, including some that are not internationally controlled and are correspondingly legal to export out of China, as well as manufactured or synthetic drugs such as xylazine and nitazenes. The companies ship the items to Mexico and directly to the United States, including via the U.S. Postal Service and express consignment services, carefully packaged to deceive customs inspectors. According to DEA, customers, often associated with Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), commonly pay for the chemicals and drugs in cryptocurrencies, making it harder for DEA to follow the money. They also pay using U.S. and PRC payment services or bank transfers. DEA alleges that the TCOs use largely PRC-sourced chemicals to synthesize fentanyl substances in clandestine laboratories, and often mix xylazine and nitazenes into the fentanyl substances, making the substances even deadlier, before distributing them across North America. The 2022 report of the U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking (established pursuant to §7221 of P.L. 116-92) concluded that the PRC's chemical and pharmaceutical sectors have outpaced the government's efforts to regulate them, creating opportunities for unscrupulous vendors to export chemicals needed in their illegal manufacture. The U.S. Department of the Treasury assesses that Mexico-based cartels are increasingly working with PRC money laundering organizations.

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