ICYMI: Biden-Harris Administration Continues Efforts to Commercially Disrupt and Crack Down on Illicit Fentanyl Trafficking

This week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the launch of the Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force to marshal all of Treasury's resources and expertise into a coordinated and streamlined operation to combat the trafficking of illicit fentanyl. Yesterday, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen, in close coordination with the Government of Mexico, announced new sanctions against 15 Mexican individuals and two Mexican-based companies linked to the Beltran Leyva Organization, a drug trafficking organization involved in the distribution and sale of illicit fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the United States. Concurrently, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed indictments against 60 defendants on various international drug trafficking offenses related to the import of illicit drugs like meth, cocaine, marijuana, and fentanyl into the United States.

At President Biden's direction, the Biden-Harris Administration has made disrupting global illicit drug trafficking and cracking down on transnational organized crime a key priority in the efforts to beat the overdose epidemic. Yesterday, Dr. Gupta issued a statement praising the latest actions and spoke with nearly a dozen outlets across the country on the Administration's commitment to working with international partners to keep illicit fentanyl out of our communities and save lives.

Read more below:

CNN: Biden administration announces new financial strike force to curb deadly fentanyl trade
[Sam Fossum, 12/4/23]

"The Treasury Department's Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force will allow us to bring the Department's unrivaled expertise in fighting financial crime to bear against this deadly epidemic. Treasury will use every tool at its disposal to disrupt the ability of drug traffickers to peddle this poison in our country," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement Monday.

The strike force will be led by the department's top sanctions official, Brian Nelson, and the chief of the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigations unit, James Lee. It will "redouble Treasury's existing work streams, including using financial intelligence to understand risks and map transnational criminal organization (TCO) financial networks," according to a news release.
The New York Times: U.S. and Mexico Try to Promote Trade While Curbing Flow of Fentanyl
[Alan Rappeport and Zolan Kanno-Youngs 12/7/23]

The United States and Mexico sought to project a united front on Thursday in their efforts to deepen economic ties and crack down on illicit drug smuggling as the Biden administration looks to solidify its North American supply chain and reduce reliance on China.

[…]

"Increased engagement with Mexico will help maintain an open investment climate while monitoring and addressing security risks, making both our countries safer," Ms. Yellen said at a news conference on Thursday.

Associated Press: Janet Yellen is heading to Mexico after Treasury launches a new fentanyl trafficking strike force
[Fatima Hussein, 12/4/23]

In Mexico City, Yellen will talk with government and private sector leaders about stopping illicit finance that funds the drug trade and boosting supply chains through her "friendshoring" initiative. A major focus of the trip will be on stopping fentanyl financing.

The Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force announced Monday will bring together personnel and intelligence from throughout the Treasury Department — from its sanctions and intelligence arms to IRS Criminal Investigations — to more effectively collaborate on stopping the flow of drugs into the country.

Fox News: Treasury announces Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force, led by anti-terrorism office, to fight spread of deadly drug
[Lawrence Richard, 12/5/23]

The new initiative brings together "personnel, expertise, intelligence, and resources across key Treasury offices and is jointly led by the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI) and IRS Criminal Investigation (CI)," the Treasury Department said Monday.

"Combatting the flow of deadly fentanyl into communities across the United States is a top priority for President Biden as well as the Treasury Department," said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. "The Treasury Department's Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force will allow us to bring the Department's unrivaled expertise in fighting financial crime to bear against this deadly epidemic. Treasury will use every tool at its disposal to disrupt the ability of drug traffickers to peddle this poison in our country."

On Tuesday, Yellen will promote her agency's new strike force during a visit to Mexico City, where she will talk with government and private sector leaders about stopping illicit fentanyl financing that funds the drug trade and boosts supply chains.

The San Francisco Examiner: Treasury Department launches strike force to counter illicit fentanyl
[Brett Rowland, 12/4/23]

The strike force will use Treasury's "resources and expertise in a coordinated and streamlined operation to combat the trafficking of illicit fentanyl." The strike force brings together people and resources across key Treasury offices and is jointly led by the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence and IRS Criminal Investigation.

"The Treasury Department's Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force will allow us to bring the Department's unrivaled expertise in fighting financial crime to bear against this deadly epidemic," Yellen said in a statement. "Treasury will use every tool at its disposal to disrupt the ability of drug traffickers to peddle this poison in our country."

Scripps: US Treasury launches new fentanyl trafficking strike force
[Staff, 12/4/23]

The Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force announced Monday will bring together personnel and intelligence from throughout the Treasury Department — from its sanctions and intelligence arms to IRS Criminal Investigations — to more effectively collaborate on stopping the flow of drugs into the country.

The creation of the group and Yellen's Mexico trip are the beginning of the Biden administration's plan to redouble its efforts to stem the tide of illegal fentanyl after President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in California in November. At the meeting, they announced that China is telling its chemical companies to curtail shipments of the materials used to produce fentanyl to Latin America.

Spectrum: Treasury Department launches new fentanyl strike force
[Susan Carpenter, 12/4/23]

"Through this strike force, we will conduct joint analyses of the financial flows of fentanyl trafficking networks," a senior Treasury official said during a briefing Monday previewing the announcement. "We'll strengthen operational coordination on both civil and criminal investigations, and we'll partner with local and federal law enforcement to share information."

El Diario: Fentanyl, the drug that is causing a tragedy in the United States
[Melody Schreiber, 12/5/23]

[Translated from Spanish] Speaking to The Guardian, Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, explains that fentanyl is the cause of most of these deaths, associated with at least 60% of fatal overdoses; a 50% increase in a single year. He states that "it is devastating" and that "it is an epidemic within the pandemic".

[…]

U.S. President Joe Biden announced harm reduction policies to stem the tide of overdoses. According to Ciccarone, this is a hopeful move. In the expert's view, it is also important to address the fundamental inequalities that often lead to the overdose crisis.

"We will continue to have wave after wave of overdoses if we don't address the inequities in our society. It's a wake-up call, and civilizations fall if they don't address the instabilities of their population," he says.

El Pais: Fentanyl crisis strains US-Mexico diplomatic relations
[Carmen Moran Brena, 12/7/23]

On a visit to Mexico City, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, announced Wednesday that the Office of Foreign Assets Control had imposed economic sanctions against 15 people and two companies linked to the Beltrán Leyva Organization, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

[…]

"Treasury will continue to employ our sanctions authorities to cut off narco traffickers and their enablers from the U.S. and international financial systems," Yellen told reporters.

[…]

The issue of fentanyl trafficking has been discussed at practically every meeting between the United States and Mexico. Talks between Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador have always been described as cordial, with the leaders showing a good understanding. "I couldn't have a better partner than you," Biden told López Obrador in November, while the Mexican president called his American counterpart "a good man."

N Mas: Janet Yellen Announces U.S. Sanctions on Individuals and Companies Linked to Beltran Leyva
[Staff, 12/6/23]

Yellen, on her first trip to Mexico since taking office in 2021, told reporters that the Treasury aims to improve both countries' ability to find and cut off the flow of funding to drug cartels and their front companies:

"Now we have authorities that I think make it easier for us to go after middlemen who don't actually market fentanyl per se, but products like pill presses and pharmaceuticals whose export is not controlled."

[…]

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed last month to deepen cooperation to stem the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China, which are often smuggled by Mexican drug gangs before distribution in the United States.

Yellen said the push for Mexico's cooperation in sanctions enforcement is an important part of fulfilling Biden and Xi's commitment against fentanyl.

Voice of America: U.S. Treasury Applies Sanctions to 15 Individuals Linked to Mexico's Beltran Leyva Cartel
[Voice of America Editorial Team, 12/6/23]

The U.S. government on Wednesday imposed sanctions on 15 individuals and two companies linked to the drug trafficking actions of the Beltran Leyva Cartel, "a notoriously violent drug trafficking organization involved in fentanyl trafficking."

"Communities in both Mexico and the United States suffer from the violence, addiction, and misery generated by the Beltran Leyva Organization and other cartels," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement released today by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

[…]

"Today in Mexico City, I visited a crime lab where I saw firsthand the importance of the strong partnership between the United States and Mexico to combat crime, illicit finance, and fentanyl," Secretary Yellen wrote.

Dr. Rahul Gupta on FOX 5 News Washington, D.C. – 12/6

The Director of the National Drug Control Policy Center is talking tonight. Dr. Rahul Gupta, who was appointed to the job by president Biden, tells FOX Five that The White House, in his words, is working to stop illegal drugs from coming over the border.

[…]

GUPTA: This is personal. This is personal to me. It's personal to the President. I can tell you that the very high school that I went to in Montgomery County, Maryland, has already had several overdoses.

Dr. Rahul Gupta on Iowa News Now – 12/6/23

GUPTA: Disrupt the trafficking and the production of illicit fentanyl and its precursors to make sure that we're holding these drug traffickers and cartels accountable for their actions and really going after not just the cartels but their enablers.