Former Secretary of State under the Trump administration, Mike Pompeo, tweeted this week that “China has been knowingly sending deadly fentanyl precursors to the U.S. for years. They should be held accountable.”

Pompeo’s tweet accompanied the link to a CNN article which details an investigation which “explored whether US-sanctioned chemical companies in China are evading Washington DC’s crackdown on illicitly made fentanyl – finding at least one China-based company that had links to a sanctioned entity, and a seller eager to ship potential ingredients for the lethal drug.”

China has been knowingly sending deadly fentanyl precursors to the U.S. for years.

They should be held accountable.https://t.co/hRoWNgf790

— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) April 3, 2023

China refused the allegations of its involvement in trafficking fentanyl on Thursday. In fact, Mao Ning, the spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry blamed the United States. When asked about Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s recent request for China’s assistance in halting the supply of chemicals utilized by Mexican drug cartels in the production of fentanyl, Mao responded:

“The root cause of overdose lies in the U.S. itself, and the problem is completely made in the U.S. The U.S. should face up to its own problems and take more substantive measures to strengthen domestic supervision and reduce demand.”

In a recent press conference, Mao stated that “China has always taken a zero-tolerance attitude towards illegal drug production and trafficking. We have strict controls over the production, export and sales of fentanyl, and we have strengthened cooperation with international law enforcement agencies.”

Mexico has also been an inadequate partner to the United States in combatting fentanyl trafficking. In March of this year López Obrador denied that fentanyl is produced in Mexico, despite admissions from his government to the contrary.

The Foreign Desk News reports:

The U.S. has been grappling with an opioid crisis for years, with fentanyl being one of the main culprits behind a surge in overdoses. The synthetic opioid is estimated to be 50-100 times more potent than morphine, and has been responsible for approximately 70,000 deaths per year in the U.S.

Despite China’s denial of any involvement in illegal fentanyl trafficking, the U.S. has taken steps to crack down on the import of the drug. In 2018, the U.S. introduced the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, which requires all international packages to be screened for fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.