Washington (EFE).- The Attorney General of the United States, Merrick Garland, opined this Wednesday that the Mexican government could do “much more” to combat the trafficking of fentanyl, a synthetic drug that causes the majority of overdose deaths on US soil. .
“They are helping us but they could do much more. I have no doubt about this, ”said the head of the Department of Justice during an appearance before the US Senate.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than morphine and mixed with other drugs to enhance its effect, is manufactured in Mexico from precursors imported from China and then smuggled into the United States.
Garland considered that the United States is suffering from a “horrible epidemic” of fentanyl, which killed more than 100,000 Americans last year and is “caused” by the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) cartels.
“The drug dealers who make these pills and distribute them to the United States are the most horrible people you can imagine,” he declared.
The attorney general said that he would not oppose the State Department declaring these gangs as terrorist organizations, but in turn pointed out that the US needs the collaboration of the Mexican government to combat them.
He explained that the State Department has to calculate the “consequences” that taking a measure like this would have and recalled that both the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG have already been subject to other types of sanctions.
Lack of effectiveness in the strategy against fentanyl
Former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021) considered at the time the possibility of declaring Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, something that the Government of Mexico opposes, which would consider it a violation of its national sovereignty.
Garland explained that the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) seized enough doses of fentanyl last year to “kill all Americans”, adding that the sale of this drug on the deep internet is being prosecuted.
Pressed by questions from senators, the attorney general admitted that the record number of deaths recorded last year shows that the strategy against fentanyl is not working well enough.
