US fentanyl seizures show China is not the main supplier, Beijing drugs official says
- China has made efforts to curb flow of the opioid, vice-commissioner of anti-drugs body says
- Liu Yuejin adds that the issue is ‘totally irrelevant’ to trade talks
China has hit back at US President Donald Trump’s accusations that it is the main source of fentanyl that has killed large numbers of Americans, saying that it has done its best to curb the trafficking of the substance.
In Beijing on Tuesday, Liu Yuejin, vice-commissioner of the Ministry of Public Security’s drugs control commission, said China had made efforts to curb the supply of fentanyl, including widening restrictions on the substance and cooperation with US law enforcers. It added all fentanyl-related substances to a controlled list from May, a measure intended to stop drug makers altering the chemical structure to get around existing regulations.
US officials have accused China of being the main source of illicit fentanyl and related substances that are smuggled into the United States.
Last month, Trump accused his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, of failing to meet his promises and of not doing enough to stop the flow of the potent synthetic opioid.
Citing statistics from the US government, Liu said that of 229 cases of trafficking in which 537kg (1,184lbs) of fentanyl-related substances were seized between last October and March, only 17 of them, involving 6kg of the substances, were found to have originated from China.