Secretary of State Antony Blinken convenes ministers from 84 countries to establish avenues of collaboration in addressing the synthetic drug crisis.
Fentanyl, which is 50 times stronger than heroin, is the deadliest serial killer of American adults aged 18 to 49. In 2022, it was responsible for two-thirds of the 110,000 overdose deaths in the country, reaching a historic record.
Against this tragic backdrop, Secretary of State Antony Blinken virtually convened representatives from 84 countries, including Mexico, the primary entry point for the potent substance into the United States, but not China, the third vertex in its global manufacturing, trafficking, and consumption, in a coalition to enhance cooperation in the fight against this and other synthetic drugs.
In his opening speech, Blinken sought to raise awareness among his counterparts using a graphic metaphor. "The United States is like the canary in the coal mine": in other words, what is happening here with fentanyl will soon occur, he suggested, in the rest of the world.
"Once they have saturated our market, transnational criminal syndicates are focusing on other places to increase their profits," he told them. "If we do not act together with fierce urgency, it will be a catastrophe."
Comments