Fentanyl - China, Mexico, USA, Canada & Narco Leaders CJNG, Hells Angels, Triads and Others

"See, if you look at the drug war from a purely economic point of view, the role of the government is to protect the drug cartel. That's literally true." ~ Milton Friedman

"The Latin American drug cartels have stretched their tentacles much deeper into our lives than most people believe. It's possible they are calling the shots at all levels of government." ~ William Colby

"I love the people. I really like this administration [of Enrique Peña Nieto]. I think he's a good man. We get along very well. But they have problems controlling aspects of their country. There's no question about it, and I would say the drugs and the drug cartels, No. 1." ~ Donald Trump

"Where are the drug cartels getting their weapons? They are being provided by the United States. Cut off that flow of arms." ~ Noam Chomsky

You are living in a world wherein power is behind the shadows, where the criminal underworld shapes economies, and where fentanyl, a synthetic poison, spreads like wildfire. The production and distribution are now completely in the hands of organized crime groups that inflate an epidemic that destroys lives. In Canada alone, the number of criminal organizations into fentanyl manufacturing almost doubled from 51 in 2023 to 99 in 2024. These numbers tell an ugly truth, narcotics crime evolves and thrives on corruption, money, weapons, and greed.

But right at the centre of this crisis is a drug empire - a remorseless narco leader called Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), a former police officer which originates from Mexico. Not another gang, but it was built like a machine of intimidation and profit in the likeness of a military organization. The CJNG dominates the fentanyl trade by flooding the United States and Canada with deadly doses. With an approach of ruthless efficiency, they eliminate rivals, bribe officials, and extend their empires beyond borders. Like any narco cartel, they are not afraid of the law. They adapt, finding new ways to move their products - drugs, weapons, soldiers/people, securing their grip on a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Fentanyl trafficking does more than just poison the streets; it supplies organized crime groups. The same money funding mass drug production fuels arms trafficking, money laundering, and human exploitation. These crime syndicates do not function in a vacuum. They construct communication and supply-chain networks wherein every new criminal enterprise helps and strengthens the others, protecting their survival. The more cash they make through fentanyl, the more influential socio-politically and economically wealthy they become. A vicious cycle, indeed-one which governments cannot seem to cut.

The U.S. government has moved to sanction those it believes have ties to CJNG, but targeting individuals doesn't really destroy an organization predicated on secretiveness and brutality. Meanwhile, Canadian organized crime has grown well beyond being just middlemen - they are the manufacturers. Hells Angels, Asian Triads, and other independent criminal networks run "super-labs" out of British Columbia, Ontario, and Alberta, and smaller operations throughout other provinces that have communication and supply-chain networks with CJNG and the powerful organized crime groups and nodes down to the street sellers in Canada. Domestic production has made fentanyl easier to distribute, ensuring a constant supply for those trapped in addiction.

But arresting people and sanctioning them will not stop this crisis. Organized crime only exists when the economic, political, and security apparatus - police, intelligence services, military, border patrol, and the citizenry in a nation's system is weak, when people are economically desperate, and corruption runs deep.

The fentanyl trade isn't a crime problem but rather an economic and political one. Fighting it involves more than just law enforcement by governments; it means disrupting networks, cutting off money, and exposing this narco corruption. Without a deeper strategy, the vicious circle will never be cut, and the poison will keep flowing.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-tariffs-china-response-1.7448393

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/detecting-precursor-chemicals-opioids-fentanyl-border-1.7414563