DHS Intelligence Chief: US Expects Threat From Synthetic Drugs to Grow in Coming Years
This photo provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Phoenix Division shows one of four containers holding some of the 30,000 fentanyl pills the agency seized in one of its bigger busts in Tempe, Ariz., in August 2017. Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Intelligence suggests the threat of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine to the United States will grow in coming years as criminal organizations bolster their operations, Under Secretary of Homeland Security at the Office of Intelligence and Analysis Ken Wainstein said on Tuesday.“In a very troubling development, we are increasingly seeing mass production of illicit synthetics, like fentanyl and methamphetamine,” Wainstein said in testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee. “The intelligence suggests that this threat will only grow in the coming years, as these cartels further concentrate on the lucrative fentanyl market, maintain and try to expand the flow of precursor chemicals from China, and shift their finishing operations from Mexico to the United States.”Shifting finishing operations from Mexico to the US cuts costs and facilitates more efficient, broader distribution of drugs, Wainstein said.Synthetic drugs are cheaper to produce than crop-based ones, Wainstein also said. Consequently, such drugs are becoming more common throughout the US, resulting in approximately 108,000 deaths last year, according to Wainstein.Transnational criminal organizations have become experts at avoiding law enforcement interdiction and facilitating drug smuggling operations at the US border, Wainstein said. In fiscal year 2021, US border officials seized 221,000 pounds of drugs – a nearly 40% increase over Fiscal Year 2019 – Wainstein said.The threat of synthetic drugs will require a whole-of-government and whole-of-society effort to address, Wainstein said.
