Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) on Tuesday stated he wrote a letter to Chinese dictator Xi Jinping advocating his aid in slowing down the flood of deadly fentanyl passing from China into Mexico, and then over President Joe Biden’s open borders into the United States.
López Obrador got his response on Thursday when the Chinese Foreign Ministry insisted there was no illegal fentanyl traffic from China into Mexico.
President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gestures during his everyday morning rundown on June 10, 2020, in Mexico City, Mexico. (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
AMLO checked out his letter to Xi at a press conference on Tuesday, explaining that he composed the message on March 22 after visiting U.S. lawmakers recommended he call China for assist with the fentanyl epidemic.
“We concern you, President Xi Jinping, not to request for your support in the face of these disrespectful threats, however to ask for that for humanitarian factors, you help us control shipments of fentanyl that can be sent from China to our nation,” AMLO composed to China’s leader, suggesting he was not thrilled with the criticism he was getting from the United States for refraining from doing enough to stop the fentanyl trade.
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks with the media after a signing event with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their talks at The Grand Kremlin Palace, in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 21, 2023.(Vladimir Astapkovich, Sputnik, Kremlin Swimming Pool Photo via AP )The letter to Xi requested info about how fentanyl is made and delivered from China, to help with interdiction efforts. AMLO admitted that fentanyl labs have actually appeared in Mexico, and boasted that Mexican police raided and damaged practically 1,400 of them in 2015, but declared 70 percent of the fentanyl consumed in the U.S. is imported straight from Asia rather of flowing through Mexico.
The Mexican president’s letter to Xi was much harsher toward the United States than China. He was especially distressed that congressional Republicans are calling for stronger steps against the fentanyl trade from Mexico, all the method approximately proposing U.S. military strikes versus Mexican cartel targets.
“They have even said that if we don’t stop drug trafficking gangs that operate and introduce this drug in Mexico, they might present an effort in Congress so that the United States armed forces attack our territory,” AMLO wrote, presenting a point that Beijing would go back to when it finally navigated to acknowledging his plea for assistance.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning(Chinese Foreign Ministry)On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning reacted to a concern about the obviously unanswered letter from López Obrador by insisting fentanyl and its precursor chemicals do not come from China.
“There is no such thing as unlawful trafficking of fentanyl in between China and Mexico. We 2 countries have a smooth channel of counternarcotics cooperation and the competent authorities of the two countries keep sound communication,” she stated.
China Foreign Ministry representative Mao Ning makes clear today that Beijing isn’t all set to help to stop Chinese precursor chemical exports that assist sustain the U.S. opioid overdose epidemic: “The issue is completely ‘made in USA.'” https://t.co/n0URGziOj6 https://t.co/CmTse6IPiM pic.twitter.com/Lw4rXb1ro3
— Phelim Kine “老 康” (@PhelimKine) April 6, 2023
Mao said Mexico has not informed China of any seizures of “scheduled fentanyl precursors from China.”
As normal with Chinese officials confronted on the fentanyl issue, Mao declared the Chinese federal government’s early designation of fentanyl as a harmful drug was evidence that China might not perhaps be the source of the fentanyl tidal bore.
“China has actually been playing the function as an accountable significant country in reacting to the global drug issue, and is all set to enhance worldwide counternarcotics law enforcement cooperation under the U.N. conventions on drug control,” she stated.
Mao heatedly blamed the U.S. federal government for the fentanyl epidemic.
“The root cause of the overdose depends on the U.S. itself. The issue is completely ‘made in [the] USA.’ The United States needs to face up to its own issues, take more considerable measures to strengthen domestic guideline, and reduce demand,” she stated.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson completed by accusing the United States of plotting to overthrow the Mexican government by blaming it for the fentanyl crisis, echoing AMLO’s problem about a hypothetical U.S. “invasion.”
“China firmly supports Mexico in defending independence and autonomy and opposing foreign disturbance, and gets in touch with appropriate country to stop hegemonic practices versus Mexico. At the exact same time, we hope the Mexican side will also take more powerful counternarcotics actions,” she stated.
Reuters noted on Thursday that fentanyl overdoses killed at least 100,000 people in the United States in 2015, according to the Centers for Illness Control and Avoidance (CDC).
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Company (DEA) has actually mentioned that both fentanyl and its precursor chemicals are being delivered to Mexico and Canada from China, often using legal international mail services, as well as being shipped directly into the United States.
Steven Cagen, an assistant director of investigations with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), informed a Home hearing on Wednesday that his office does not think the rising tide of Chinese migrants crossing into the United States throughout the Mexican border is connected to the fentanyl trade.
“Our investigations and intelligence show that those are 2 separate circumstances,” Cagen stated when asked if the Chinese migrants were significant carriers of fentanyl.
The number of Chinese migrants nabbed while attempting to get in the U.S. illegally rose to about 4,300 throughout the first five months of the 2023 fiscal year, which began in October. This more than doubled the number of Chinese migrants collared in the whole preceding year. Roughly 3,800 of the Chinese nationals experienced by the U.S. Border Patrol were “single grownups.”
NBC News reported last week that Chinese social networks is loaded with advice on how to get in the U.S. unlawfully, consisting of suggestions on where to cross (California is considered the weakest area in border security) and maps to assist the migrants browse without the aid of Mexican smuggling gangs.