In the ongoing battle against the illicit fentanyl trade, Canada’s ambassador to China says Ottawa is looking to collaborate with Beijing while, in contrast, Washington has sanctioned the regime over precursor chemicals used in producing the deadly drug.
“I think we’re in early days of conversations about next steps. RCMP is engaged. We have a liaison officer on the ground here. We have Mexico and the United States also engaged. So, I think there’s a lot of traction for taking an international approach to this,” Jennifer May said during an
interview on the CBC podcast “The House” aired Jan. 20.
China is
a major fentanyl supplier, and U.S. authorities have taken steps to sanction China-linked entities and individuals involved in the production and distribution of illicit fentanyl. This includes
sanctioning in April 2023
two China-based companies for allegedly “supplying precursor chemicals to drug cartels in Mexico for the production of illicit fentanyl intended for U.S. markets.”
In a separate effort to block precursor drugs from China that are made into fentanyl, in February 2023 Indiana Republican
Rep. Jim Banks introduced “The Stop CCP Fentanyl Act,” legislation that imposes sanctions on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping and other senior Chinese officials.
CBC host Catherine Cullen asked Ms. May: “The U.S. sanctioned some Chinese companies, but you’re talking about working together. Would you suggest that sanctioning is not the way Canada should go?”
Ms. May responded that she was specifically referring to “working with the Chinese government on fentanyl.”
“Basically, we can’t have a one-size-fits-all for as big and complicated a relationship as China,” she said. “We have to be trying to pursue where there are opportunities and recognizing where there are challenges.”
Before 2019, China was the primary source of U.S.-bound illicit fentanyl, fentanyl-related substances, and production equipment, with China-based traffickers supplying these substances directly to the United States through international mail and express consignment operations, says a Sept. 28, 2023,
report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
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According to U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson, “Illicit fentanyl is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans each year.”
