- The U.S.-Mexico relationship is being strained by fentanyl smuggling, as politicians on either side of the Rio Grande scramble to respond to a drug trade that now kills over 70,000 U.S. nationals annually.
- The dangerous synthetic opioid has largely replaced other less-lethal recreational substances on the front burner of regional drug control efforts.
- The surge of fentanyl has been a boon to cartels such as Sinaloa and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), who’ve discovered that the drug has few drawbacks from a commercial perspective.