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US Treasury sanctions fentanyl traffickers

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (KUNA) -- The US Department of Treasury announced Monday designating a network to manufacture and traffic illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs to the country.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the leader of a Mexico-based network and two associates for procuring precursor chemicals, said a department statement.
Today's action is the result of ongoing efforts by US agencies to disrupt the importation into and distribution of illicit fentanyl within the United States, it noted This action was coordinated closely with the government of Mexico and would not have been possible without the cooperation and support of the Drug Enforcement Administration, it added.
"Illicit fentanyl has led to unprecedented overdose deaths in the United States, with a majority of these drugs flowing from Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel, using precursor chemicals from East Asia," said Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.
"The United States will continue working with the government of Mexico to disrupt this deadly trade," he added.
US law enforcement was facing a mounting fentanyl crisis.
According to the Washington Post, More than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, the latest data available. Two-thirds caused by fentanyl. The synthetic opioid has become the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49, according to a Post analysis of death data for 2021 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (end) rsr.hb