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What is it? 

• Definition: Fentanyl is a .  
• 2 Types (both are considered synthetic opioids – made in a laboratory) 
• Pharmaceutical fentanyl: Prescribed for severe pain management (post-surgery, cancer treatment). 
• Illicitly Manufactured Fentanyl (IMF): Illegally produced, mixed with other drugs to increase potency and addiction. 
• Often added to other drugs because of its extreme potency, which makes drugs cheaper, more powerful, more addictive, and more dangerous.  
• It is available on the drug market in different forms, including liquid and powder. 
• Dangerous potency: Even in small doses, IMFs can be extremely deadly. . 
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The Opioid Epidemic: Three Waves 

• First wave: began with increased prescribing of opioids in the 1990s 
• Second wave: began in 2010, with rapid increases in overdose deaths involving heroin 
• Third wave: began in 2013, with considerable increases in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, particularly illegally made fentanyl and analogs (IMFs) 
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Overdose & Deaths 

• From 1999-2022, nearly 727,000 people from an opioid overdose. This includes overdose deaths involving prescription and illegal opioids.  
• Illicit fentanyl, primarily manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico, is being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market.  
• There is significant risk that illegal drugs have been intentionally or unintentionally contaminated with fentanyl. Fentanyl can be made into pill form, and it can be mixed in with other counterfeit pills. 
• Deaths involving synthetic opioids, primarily illicitly manufactured fentanyl, continued to rise with 73,838 overdose deaths reported in 2022.  
• 6 10 OUT OF EVERY FAKE PILLS WITH FENTANYL HAVE ENOUGH TO BE DEADLY 
• Number 1 cause of death in Americans aged 18-45 
• 50X stronger than heroin and 100X stronger than morphine  
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Importance of Naloxone: 

• Naloxone is a life-saving medicine that rapidly reverses opioid overdoses by blocking opioid receptors. 
• Restores normal breathing when slowed or stopped due to an overdose. 
• Only works if opioids are present in the body and does not treat opioid use disorder. 
• You can help save lives – Carry Naloxone! 

Impact in the US, Mexico and China relation 

• The opioid crisis connects China, Mexico, and the US: China supplies fentanyl precursors, Mexico's cartels manufacture the drug, and the US faces devastating impacts from widespread synthetic opioid use. Coordinated efforts are fundamental since an important part of chemical precursors and final product passes through Mexico before reaching the United States.  
• According to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) most illicit drug substances are through land Ports of Entry (POE), contrary to the belief that these are smuggled between ports. According to , more than 50% of the fentanyl enters through the Nogales POE, on the border between Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. 
• The ongoing "" where each country points fingers at the other, has hindered effective coordination. US lawmakers have Mexico for inaction, advocating for increased border security, military operations within Mexico, and cuts to financial aid. Meanwhile, Mexico has accused the U.S. of failing to address the root causes of the crisis and to curb gun trafficking into Mexico. 
• President Trump started a Trade War imposing ariffs to pressure countries implicated in the fentanyl supply chain. Specifically, a 25% tariff has been placed on imports from Canada and Mexico, and a 10% tariff on imports from China – these have been halted  
• The Government is deliberating the designation of Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations. This move could lead to enhanced intelligence operations and potential unilateral actions to dismantle cartel networks responsible for fentanyl trafficking 
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Actions taken  

• Between 2018 and 2023, 556,308 kilograms of methamphetamine were seized in Mexico.  
• The Ministry of National Defense (Sedena) the seizure of 488 thousand 707 kilograms and 1 million 215 thousand liters of chemicals and precursors in laboratories secured since 2018.  
• In the last 5 years, the number of laboratories discovered nationwide has grown more than 16 times, from 58 in 2018 to 948 in 2023.  
• In 2024, for the first time in decades, public health data shows sudden and hopeful deaths across the US. Preliminary data shows around 97,000 fatal overdoses over a 12-month period. That's down roughly 14.5% from last year.