The Treasury Department (USDT) announced the launch and implementation of a new Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force to combat illegal trafficking of the opioid that enters the country's borders.
According to an official statement, the creation of the new task force "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)." Among its responsibilities, the force will examine the economic activity of criminal trafficking organizations and will work together with authorities in the areas most affected by drug overdoses.
The group will be chaired by Brian Nelson, assistant secretary of the Treasury Department TFI, and the head of the IRS CI, James Lee. Nelson noted that "The Strike Force will act quickly and decisively with the top specialists from across the Department to nimbly respond to the newest threats." Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen commented:
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. ... 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.
Fentanyl: The deadliest drug and a national threat
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) predicts that next year, fentanyl will be one of the main threats to the stability of the country, as it will continue to cause more deaths than terrorism.
The 2024 Homeland Threat Assessment (HTA) report indicated that although terrorists remain a "permanent" threat to national security, "drugs kill and harm far more people in the United States annually."
Homeland-threat-assessment-... by Veronica Silveri
Furthermore, the study points out that "traffickers in Mexico and the United States are using various additives, such as xylazine, and mixing fentanyl into counterfeit prescription pills, which are driving an increase in overdoses," and that this "The illegal narcotics trade also harms our communities by supporting violent criminal enterprises, money laundering, and corruption that undermines the rule of law."
The report highlights data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that revealed that overdose deaths related to fentanyl mixed with xylazine have increased by 276% in just three years. The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report showed that overdose deaths from the two substances combined increased from 2.9% in January 2019 to 10.9% June 2022.
