MEXICO CITY, July 18 (Reuters) - Precursor chemicals used by Mexican cartels to make the deadly opioid fentanyl do not come from China, its embassy in Mexico said on Tuesday, rejecting U.S. officials’ accusations.

The embassy said in a statement that China had measures in place to prevent the trafficking of substances used to make illegal drugs, and added the U.S. was “blindly shirking its responsibilities” by not taking domestic action.

“The root of the fentanyl crisis in the United States is within itself,” the embassy said.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has been seeking cooperation with both Mexico and China in stemming the flow of fentanyl, which has fueled a health crisis and a sharp rise in overdose deaths, as well as its precursor chemicals.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says the addictive painkiller and its precursors are transported from China to Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, often by international mail.

China had denied the illegal trafficking of fentanyl to Mexico in an April statement, though it did not address precursor chemicals.

The embassy on Tuesday said China was “actively coordinating and strengthening” supervision of drug-making substances with Mexico.

The U.S. embassy in Mexico and Mexico’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Chinese statement, the embassy said, comes after recent comments from U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar and other U.S. officials.

Last week, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned 10 people with suspected ties to the Sinaloa Cartel’s fentanyl network, as well as a company accused of importing chemicals from China.

“This represents a blow to (the cartel’s) financial operations and illicit activities, since the company receives chemical shipments from China,” Salazar said in a statement.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/reuters/

  • Quokka@quokk.au
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    1 year ago

    Ah yes, America, famous for its love of tea and getting the Chinese hooked on opium.

    • delial@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      Eh. It’s one empire these days. Just a big ol’ Western hegemony.

      EDIT: This video might provide some clarity on where I’m coming from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOF56wYTl1w

      The powers that went to war with China over the opium trade are the same; they’ve just moved into a bigger house across the pond.

        • delial@lemmy.sdf.org
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          1 year ago

          lmao, just to be clear, I think tankies are little CCP dick-sucking bitches, but anyone who throws around a thought-stopper like “tankie” really doesn’t deserve respect. C’mon, you can engage with the merits and flaws of an argument, right?

          If you want to get into a whole ad hominem thing: I’m suspicious of communism (free markets are great for almost everything), and communist revolutions are a joke. I haven’t finished reading Das Kapital, but I’ve heard that the capitalism will inevitably create communism out of the consequences of its own actions, so any revolution is just trying to force the wheel of time forward. I also think it is plain to see that you can’t have a communist government without democracy (preferable direct democracy), because how can everyone be equal otherwise? China’s communism is just capitalism in a trench coat, which is why you see the same effects on its populace as elsewhere. Fundamentally, I’m an Anarcho-syndicalist or Anarcho-socialist. No hierarchies, free association, worker solidarity, and mutual aid.

            • delial@lemmy.sdf.org
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              1 year ago

              Who’s saying “nuh uh”? It could go both ways.

              I’m saying (in winey child voice), “nuh uh! I’m not a communist! I’m an anarcho-blahblahblah, and there are nuanced distinctions between blah blah blah! Nyah!”

              Marsupial is saying, “nuh uh! China doesn’t blame Western capitalism for the opium trade! They only blame the Brits!”

              I have no disagreement that typical “tankies” would call the Five Eyes an empire and Western hegemony, but calling the idea “tankie” is just using a thought-stopper to avoid talking about the idea that empires serve those with power and not the other way around.

              And I just fucking disdain fervent communists, so Marsupial struck a nerve. I’d rather be dismissed for what I actually think.

          • Quokka@quokk.au
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            1 year ago

            Oh come of it mate.

            Make stupid comments, don’t expect in-depth responses.