A silent epidemic, the Fentanyl crisis in the US is claiming thousands of lives due to the overdose of a deadly drug. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that was introduced in 1959 only for medical purposes. Its chief use is to alleviate excessive pain due to surgery, working as an analgesic (pain relief) and anaesthetic drug only under clinical guidelines. The purpose of the drug was to stand the excessive pain due to surgeries and produce a sensation of relaxation, pain relief, and sedation. But today this synthetic opioid is associated with addiction, deaths, and national security threats. The overdose of this synthetic opioid leads to dire consequences and in extreme cases leads to death. The shift in the utility of the fentanyl opioid from a pharmaceutical product to a drug used for enjoying its euphoric effects is mainly due to its affordable nature. Its potency is more than 50 times that of morphine. As little as two milligrams can be death-causing. The deaths caused by overdoses of opioids are mainly caused by highly potent fentanyl.
Fentanyl: From Medicine to Menace
From 2011 onwards illegal use of fentanyl began, leading to the deaths of many. The cycle of manufacture and consumption is transboundary, illicitly manufactured in Mexico and trafficked to the US. With the dark web gaining traction, it has become easier to export such illicit drugs beyond borders. This synthetic fentanyl is sold illegally in the form of powder, dropped onto blotter paper, and put in eye droppers and nasal sprays that look like other prescription opioids. Hence, it becomes difficult to identify such exported drugs. Many times, the lethal drug is commixed with other legitimate drugs and people consume it unknowingly. This leads to an unintentional overdose of the drug causing grave consequences. This is common among young people, mostly Blacks, Hispanics, and particularly men. Such a catastrophe throws light on the poor socio-economic condition and flaws in the medical treatments as fentanyl is often injected along with other legitimate drugs. With the rise in deaths every year, it is termed an Epidemic. Today it is considered a Public Health Emergency with a count of 220 deaths each day due to drug abuse. The death count has surged over 6,00,000. The opioid epidemic isn’t new, it is observed in three waves by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The first wave began in the 1990s mainly due to the overdoses of prescription opioids- mostly methadone. The second wave lasted from 2010 to 2013, with deaths caused by the overdose of heroin. The current wave of the epidemic began in 2013 marked by the overdose of fentanyl. Currently, this health catastrophe has emerged as a national security issue. As per the reports from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 70,000 people died alone in 2024 due to overdose.
Fentanyl Attracts Tariffs and Worsens Relations with China and Mexico
China and Mexico have a significant role to play in the spread of this health catastrophe. China supplies the precursor chemicals to produce the drug which is shipped to Mexico where it is processed and smuggled into the US. The smuggling and trafficking mostly take through the Southwestern border of the US which it shares with Mexico. The rest is intercepted at the sea checkpoints. It is mainly exported to the US hiding in along with other export items which makes it hard to identify. Nearly 800 million dollars’ worth of fentanyl was illicitly shipped to the US over a couple of years.
Donald Trump in his second term has accused Mexico and China of the illicit drug supply and imposed tariffs on the imports from Mexico and China for conniving with drug cartels. US President has linked the fentanyl exports to the tariffs imposed on these countries slamming them for not doing enough to address and stop the illegal shipping of the deadly drug. He did that so that tariffs would hurt the countries’ economy and make it less likely to export drugs into the US. In reaction to the tariff threats by the US, Mexico launched Operation Northern Border on 4th February, deploying the army and National Guard on the northern border of Mexico to check on the illegal immigration and smuggling of deadly fentanyl.
The consequence of fentanyl is so severe that for the very first time, this illicit drug has been recognized as a national security threat in the US apart from the threat posed by Russia, North Korea, and Iran. Deaths caused by fentanyl overdose were also brought up by Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence in the Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community 2025. For the first time in history, Trump designated the drug cartels as terrorist organizations in an executive order.
Conclusion
The bilateral relations of the US with Mexico and China have worsened due to the trafficking of fentanyl into the US. To mitigate such a crisis, all the countries must engage in meaningful talks and address the issue with sustained efforts. The lethal drug does not just affect the US, many other countries suffer from its overdose like Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, and the UK but the situation is not as alarming as that of the US. Apart from grounding oneself in mutual commitment to fight against a common threat, attention to the cause of consumption needs to be investigated as well. Strict law must be enforced to punish anybody involved in the illicit drug export, hereby deterring individuals and drug cartels from engaging in such illegal activities. The borders must be kept tight and scrutiny of exports must be done vigorously so that no prohibited covert activity goes unnoticed. This can only be achieved with close coordination and cooperation between the concerned countries.
