Mexico asks China’s Xi for help to control fentanyl shipments, complains about US
- In a letter to his Chinese counterpart, President Lopez Obrador says American lawmakers are interfering in his country’s affairs
- US politicians blame Mexico for not stopping the trafficking of the lethal drug across the border, but the ingredients for fentanyl are chiefly sent from Asia
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday he had sent a letter to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping urging him to help control shipments of the synthetic opioid fentanyl sent across the Pacific.
Lopez Obrador read out the letter during a news conference in which he defended his country’s efforts to curb trafficking of the lethal drug in the face of US criticism.
Fentanyl has been blamed for fuelling a surge in overdose deaths in the US, and Republican lawmakers have accused the Mexican government of not doing enough to stop drug cartels trafficking the powerful painkiller into the United States.
US and Mexican officials agree that the ingredients used to make fentanyl are chiefly sent from Asia, but Lopez Obrador argues Mexico is not a production hub for the drug.
Some Republicans have urged Washington to authorise the use of military force in Mexico to tackle the problem, a suggestion that has been vigorously rejected by Lopez Obrador.