China Says ‘No Such Thing as Illegal Trafficking of Fentanyl’ with Mexico

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) on Tuesday said he wrote a letter to Chinese dictator Xi Jinping pleading for his help in slowing down the flood of deadly fentanyl passing from China into Mexico, and then over President Joe Biden’s open borders into the United States.

López Obrador got his answer on Thursday when the Chinese Foreign Ministry insisted there was no illegal fentanyl traffic from China into Mexico.

AMLO read his letter to Xi at a news conference on Tuesday, explaining that he wrote the message on March 22 after visiting U.S. lawmakers suggested he contact China for help with the fentanyl epidemic. 

“We come to you, President Xi Jinping, not to ask for your support in the face of these rude threats, but to request that for humanitarian reasons, you help us control shipments of fentanyl that can be sent from China to our country,” AMLO wrote to China’s leader, indicating he was not thrilled with the criticism he was receiving from the United States for not doing enough to halt the fentanyl trade.

The letter to Xi asked for information about how fentanyl is made and shipped from China, to assist with interdiction efforts. AMLO admitted that fentanyl laboratories have appeared in Mexico, and boasted that Mexican law enforcement raided and destroyed almost 1,400 of them last year, but claimed 70 percent of the fentanyl consumed in the U.S. is imported directly from Asia instead of flowing through Mexico.

The Mexican president’s letter to Xi was much harsher toward the United States than China. He was particularly upset that congressional Republicans are calling for stronger measures against the fentanyl trade from Mexico, all the way up to proposing U.S. military strikes against Mexican cartel targets.

“They have even said that if we don’t stop drug trafficking gangs that operate and introduce this drug in Mexico, they could present an initiative in Congress so that the United States armed forces invade our territory,” AMLO wrote, introducing a point that Beijing would return to when it finally got around to acknowledging his plea for help.

On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning responded to a question about the apparently unanswered letter from López Obrador by insisting fentanyl and its precursor chemicals do not originate in China.

“There is no such thing as illegal trafficking of fentanyl between China and Mexico. We two countries have a smooth channel of counternarcotics cooperation and the competent authorities of the two countries maintain sound communication,” she declared.

Mao said Mexico has not notified China of any seizures of “scheduled fentanyl precursors from China.”

As usual with Chinese officials confronted on the fentanyl issue, Mao claimed the Chinese government’s early designation of fentanyl as a dangerous drug was proof that China could not possibly be the source of the fentanyl tidal wave.

“China has been playing the role as a responsible major country in responding to the global drug problem, and is ready to enhance international counternarcotics law enforcement cooperation under the U.N. conventions on drug control,” she said.

Mao heatedly blamed the U.S. government for the fentanyl epidemic.

“The root cause of the overdose lies in the U.S. itself. The problem is completely ‘made in [the] USA.’ The US needs to face up to its own problems, take more substantial measures to strengthen domestic regulation, and reduce demand,” she said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman finished by accusing the United States of plotting to overthrow the Mexican government by blaming it for the fentanyl crisis, echoing AMLO’s complaint about a hypothetical U.S. “invasion.”

“China firmly supports Mexico in defending independence and autonomy and opposing foreign interference, and calls on relevant country to stop hegemonic practices against Mexico. At the same time, we hope the Mexican side will also take stronger counternarcotics actions,” she said.

Reuters noted on Thursday that fentanyl overdoses killed at least 100,000 people in the United States last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has stated that both fentanyl and its precursor chemicals are being shipped to Mexico and Canada from China, frequently using legal international mail services, as well as being shipped directly into the United States.

Steven Cagen, an assistant director of investigations with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told a House hearing on Wednesday that his office does not believe the rising tide of Chinese migrants crossing into the United States across the Mexican border is connected to the fentanyl trade.

“Our investigations and intelligence show that those are two separate situations,” Cagen said when asked if the Chinese migrants were major carriers of fentanyl.

The number of Chinese migrants apprehended while attempting to enter the U.S. illegally rose to about 4,300 during the first five months of the 2023 fiscal year, which began in October. This more than doubled the number of Chinese migrants apprehended in the entire preceding year. Roughly 3,800 of the Chinese nationals encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol were “single adults.”

NBC News reported last week that Chinese social media is packed with advice on how to enter the U.S. illegally, including tips on where to cross (California is considered the weakest area in border security) and maps to help the migrants navigate without the aid of Mexican smuggling gangs.