State-Backed Synthetic Narcotics Trafficking Syndicates and the Vectored Threat to the Five Eyes Alliance

The Strategic Utility of Multi-Domain Network Graphs for Precision Targeting and Network Collapse Applications: The CCP BioThreats Initiative Method

Exponential Growth in Harm Caused by Synthetic Narcotics Trafficking Networks: Biochemical Warfare?

In 2022 over 75,000 Americans died from overdose of synthetic opioids, with fentanyl being the most statistically prominent.[1] Much of the bulk movements of fentanyl (which is mostly consumed in pill form in the United States) is believed to originate from Mexico where it is often produced in pharmaceutical-grade pill manufacturing facilities. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has publicly alleged that China is a key supplier of key precursor chemicals to the Mexican cartels and also provides critical engineering and managerial knowhow in the manufacturing of fentanyl in pill form.[2]

A joint Europol-DEA report published in December 2022 also stated that Mexican-origin fentanyl has also now become a major challenge in Europe and that Mexican cartels have established complex networks on the continent.[3] When these official positions are considered alongside Representative Dunn’s bill to designate fentanyl-related substances as a weapon of mass destruction, there is potential for this issue to escalate.

[1] ‘Fentanyl Letter to President Biden’, Attorney General of the State of Florida and the Attorney General of the State of Connecticut, 14 September 2022. Fentanyl Letter (tn.gov).

Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts - 12 Month-ending Provisional Number of Drug Overdose Deaths by Drug or Drug Class, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 January 2023.

Products - Vital Statistics Rapid Release - Provisional Drug Overdose Data (cdc.gov)

[2] ‘Fentanyl Flow to the United States’, DEA Intelligence Report, January 2020. DEA_GOV_DIR-008-20 Fentanyl Flow in the United States_0.pdf

[3] Complexities and Conveniences in the International Drug Trade: The Involvement of Mexican Criminal Actors in the EU Drug Market’, Europol and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, December 2002. Europol_DEA_Joint_Report.pdf (europa.eu)