(NationRise.com) – The US Treasury Department announced on December 4 a new strike force whose primary mission will be to tackle illicit fentanyl trafficking. The agency made the announcement at a time when the United States and China are stepping up efforts to halt the movement of drug-making materials and opioids into the country.
According to different reports, the Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force will unite Treasury Department intelligence and personnel with criminal investigators from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The main goal will be to reduce and eventually stop the flow of drugs into the United States as soon as possible.
As reported by Newsmax, the force’s creation is the beginning of the Biden administration’s plan to stem the tide of illegal fentanyl following a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden in California. At the November meeting, both leaders announced that the Chinese regime would order its chemical companies to curtail shipments of materials to Latin America that are used to create the powerful opioid. The two presidents also said that Beijing restarted its share of information about suspected trafficking through an international database.
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), China and Mexico are the leading source nations for fentanyl and different fentanyl-related substances that are trafficked directly into the United States. The agency also noted that almost every precursor chemical that is needed to make the powerful opioid comes from the Asian nation.
In a statement, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the new task force will analyze the financial flows of some trafficking groups, especially those that normally use cryptocurrencies to move funds. The force will also cooperate with local law enforcement in zones that have been hit by the fentanyl epidemic and will use records from financial institutions to detect every transaction related to human smuggling and drug trafficking. Yellen added that fighting against the flow of fentanyl into American communities is one of the main priorities of President Biden and the Treasury Department.
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