US ANNOUNCES SWEEPING ACTION AGAINST FENTANYL PRODUCERS

In one of the biggest actions the administration has taken against fentanyl trafficking, the US on Tuesday announced a series of indictments and sanctions against 14 people and 14 firms across China and Canada related to the import of the drug to the United States.

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Leaders from the Treasury, Justice and Homeland Security departments, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the US Postal Inspection Service are set to gather at Justice Department headquarters Tuesday afternoon to outline the administration's latest action against what it calls a "major China-based syndicate" that sold chemicals to American drug dealers and Mexico-based cartels.

All but two of the firms and one of the people targeted are based in China.

Mexico and China are the primary sources for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the US, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking. Nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl are coming from China.