Reuters reported Thursday that it's surprisingly easy to buy raw fentanyl from China and ship it to North America.
Reuters reports that in the past year, investigators have obtained ingredients that chemists have advised are fentanyl raw materials, as well as equipment to make pills, showing how easy it is to obtain the raw materials for fentanyl with just an internet connection. reportReuters estimates that of the $3,600 spent (mostly in Bitcoin) to acquire the chemicals, the overall market value of the products made from the ingredients is estimated at $3 million.
Of the 14 orders received, 12 contained precursors to fentanyl., The final two were fakes, one containing sugar and the other the popular anaesthetic lidocaine, a chemist told Reuters. The packaging was labelled “adapter” to evade authorities.[s]”Computer accessories”, “Doorknobs”[s].”
Reuters reporters used eight suppliers, seven of which are based in China and some of which are under indictment by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The process involved both the dark web and regular websites advertising raw materials, the outlet said, and shoppers typically communicated through secure messaging services such as Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp.
One such company, Hubei Amarvel Biotech, was indicted by the Department of Justice in 2023 along with three Chinese nationals. according to According to the indictment, Amabelle allegedly disguised shipments containing fentanyl precursors as shipments to the United States and knowingly attempted to mislead law enforcement.
“What we sell is completely legal in China, but the US always uses this issue to criticize us and even pretend to be buyers to get information about us and smear the country,” an Amabelle supplier told Reuters. “I hate all Americans, because they themselves use it (fentanyl) and blame us.”
The Justice Department has indicted at least 12 Chinese suppliers since mid-2023, some of which have continued to operate and at times supplied raw chemicals to Reuters, according to Reuters. An Amabelle-related supplier contacted by Reuters said the indictments “will not affect our company.”
“It's like making chicken soup,” a chef making fentanyl in the Mexican state of Sinaloa told Reuters. “It's super easy to make that drug.”
According to Reuters, piperidine, a compound essential to making fentanyl, is also used to make everyday products such as insecticides and fragrances, which means it can be difficult to regulate.
A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chemist examines powder containing fentanyl seized at the DEA's Northeast Regional Laboratory in New York on October 8, 2019. (Photo: Don Emmert/AFP)
According to Reuters, a list of chemicals used by Reuters to obtain raw materials was part of the “Gupta process” for making fentanyl. The raw materials included piperidine, aniline, (2-bromoethyl)benzene and propionyl chloride.
(2-Bromoethyl)benzene is Already used Fragrances and medicines, according to To the National Institutes of Health.
Mexico and China are well-known routes through which fentanyl enters the United States, with China being the main source. according to From a 2020 Drug Enforcement Administration report.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
As an independent, nonpartisan news service, all content produced by the Daily Caller News Foundation is available free of charge to any legitimate news publisher with a large readership. All republished articles must include our logo, reporter byline, and affiliation with the DCNF. If you have any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact us at licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
