DEA Administrator: China ‘Knows’ Its Chemicals Are Used to Make Fentanyl, It ‘Needs to Do More’

During an interview aired on Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “At This Hour,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said that China “knows” chemicals from its country are being shipped to Latin America and used to make fentanyl and that “China needs to do more” to stop this.

Host Kate Bolduan asked, “You’ve called fentanyl one of the most deadly substances on the planet. And we talk about what it is doing, how it is getting here, and why it is such a problem. There are two places: China and Mexico. On China, the chemicals for these poisons come from China. Why isn’t China stopping it?”

Milgram answered, “So, that’s the right question to ask, and China needs to do more, there is no question. Right now, China has a largely unregulated chemical industry and those chemicals are being shipped on a daily basis to Mexico and to other countries in Latin America where they’re being brought to Mexico. So, the first question is exactly the right question. We know this is happening. China knows it’s happening and it has to be stopped, and it’s a critical point. Because, as I said, if those chemicals can’t get to Mexico, the criminal drug cartels in Mexico won’t be able to make fentanyl and meth. And so, it is a critical upstream part of our work.”

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