Fentanyl Crisis Grows Due to Negligence

The Biden White House has failed to adequately address the fentanyl crisis. Indeed, its open border policy has made the crisis significantly worse. It has ignored the desperate pleas of lawmakers to respond more forcefully to the drug, which fatally poisons one person in America every 8.57 minutes, killing 175 people every single day. “Fentanyl kills more people age 18-45 than car accidents, suicide, or COVID-19,” according to Rep. Bryan Steil (WI-R).

There were 1,531 confirmed deaths for 2021 with an increase of 11.4% compared to the previous year, 2020 . Compared to 2019, drug overdose deaths increased 27.7% in 2021.

CDC statistics reveal that 107,375 people in the United States died of drug overdoses and drug poisonings in the 12-month period ending in January 2022. A staggering 67 percent of those deaths involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Some of these deaths were attributed to fentanyl mixed with other illicit drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, with many users unaware they were actually taking fentanyl. Only two milligrams of fentanyl are considered a potentially lethal dose; it’s particularly dangerous for someone who does not have a tolerance to opioids.

The open southern border is the key factor in the increasing fentanyl challenge. U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has described how the Biden administration’s deliberate refusal to secure the southern border has promoted the massive influx of fentanyl. “We are in the middle of a public health crisis. With thousands of unlawful migrants flooding our southern border, cartels are able to go unnoticed as they sneak deadly substances such as fentanyl across our border,” said Dr. Michael Burgess.

Currently, China remains the primary source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked through international mail to Mexican drug cartels, as well as the main source for all fentanyl-related substances trafficked into the United States.

The fentanyl crisis began in earnest during the Obama-Biden Administration. The Washington Post termed the issue the “Obama Fentanyl Failure,” noting: “The fentanyl crisis represents an extraordinary public health challenge — and requires an extraordinary public health response… experts wrote to six [Obama] administration officials, including the nation’s ‘drug czar’ and the chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

According to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) “Joe Biden’s open border policies have allowed criminal drug networks to flood the United States more easily with fentanyl, and now enough of this lethal drug has flowed across our Southern Border to kill every American seven times over… Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats turn a blind eye to this crisis by blocking critical legislation to classify fentanyl-related substances as a Schedule I drug.”

In February, Rep. Steil led 116 Republicans on a letter to President Biden urging the Administration to take immediate action to stem the fentanyl scourge coming from China and across the southern border.

Rep, Warren Davidson emphasized that “Border security is national security. Criminal cartels have more control over our southern border than our own Border Patrol, allowing fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances to flood our communities and kill Americans. It is time this administration obeys the law and uses enforcement to secure our border, [and] protect American lives…”

The crisis has taken an even more sinister turn as deliberate attempts to attract children has become evident. In August, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) warned that there is an alarming emerging trend of colorful fentanyl available across the United States. In August 2022, DEA and our law enforcement partners seized brightly-colored fentanyl and fentanyl pills in 18 states. Dubbed ‘rainbow fentanyl’ in the media, this trend appears to be a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and young people. “Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.”

Illustration: Fentanyl intentionally made to look like candy (CDC)

Quick Analysis

Russia Expanding Aggression

President Putin is using more than one pathway to enter Europe and undermine the West. While most of the world watches the conflict he initiated in Ukraine, the Russian government is actively pursuing a second front in a little noticed campaign in Cyprus. Although the corrupt Cypriot government ended its issuance of “golden passports” in 2020, Russian intelligence is functioning quietly there to transform this EU country into a Russian beachhead of illicit economic activity aimed at penetrating the capitalist West, according to Paul Goble of the Jamestown Foundation. Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor does it receive as much attention as those countries who are member states. That adds to its allure as a prime location for Russia to attempt to gain a European foothold. Last week a NATO report, cited in the European Daily Monitor, noted that Russian intelligence agents have been plotting to destroy European infrastructure across the continent to disrupt states supporting Ukraine. It further suggests that Putin’s immediate goal is to lay the framework for a future move against the security organization’s members. Hungary, in particular, is another country garnering Moscow’s attention as it opposes the Western response to Russian aggression. Russia is focusing its intelligence efforts on other European, non-NATO member countries in addition to Cyprus, including Austria, Malta, and Ireland. The NATO report suggests that Moscow has had success in disseminating the Russian political narrative in these states to advance its campaign against the West. The island of Cyprus is proving to be a good target for Moscow as it is an ethnically divided island that is part of the EU since 2004. Northern Cyprus, officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey. The division precludes it from joining NATO. As Goble suggests, “it offers Russia troubled waters in which to fish.” Over the last 20 years, he points out, Cyprus’ challenges have opened it to a massive influx of Russian citizens, who now comprise approximately 10 percent of the island state’s population. Over 2,900 residents are Russians who entered until the “golden passport” program that allowed wealthy or well-connected Russians to move to Cyprus. It also provided them with documentation to travel freely throughout Europe! Although less visible on the world’s radar than the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also being helped by Cyprus’ banks opposition to seizing Russian assets and its support in evading Western sanctions. Russia has placed tens of billions of US Dollars there for money laundering. It has been more than two years since a single Russian “diplomat” has been deported and, in fact, the Embassy has grown to over 300 staffers on this tiny island state of only 1.2 million people. The Russian embassy in Nicosia has advanced communications antennae on its roof and opened a consulate on the northern end of the island. Moscow’s Ambassador, Mura Zyazikov, is a lieutenant general in the FSB with no diplomatic experience. The FSB, SVR (Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and GRU are actively using the island as a base of operations against NATO Member states, Israel, and other Western allies. Moscow backs pro-Russian political parties who in turn influence Cypriot decisions on education, language, and other issues. “Dmitry Khmelnitsky of the Dossier Center says that its findings should be of concern not only to Cyprus but to the West as a whole. Those who ignore what Moscow is doing because Cyprus does not follow the EU sanctions regime are missing something critical,” says Goble. “Cyprus does not seek to get rid of Russian agents and does not interfere with their work,” Khmelnitsky concludes, “despite the fact that what the Kremlin is doing is so clearly visible.” This has an impact not only on the small island but on the EU, NATO, and the West in general. Earlier this year the Moscow Times reported that when the FBI became more interested in Russian business and oligarchs in Cyprus, at least 10 of the major Russian businesses operating there left. Despite the government of Cyprus’ vow to implement plans for new sanctions against Russia, it continues to ignore Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine and to shield the wealth of the 50,000 wealthy Russian citizens and oligarchs residing there. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay