US President Joe Biden on Friday included China on his list of top drug producing and transporting countries, citing the Asian country’s manufacturing of precursor chemicals for the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.
In a memo to Congress, Biden accused Bolivia and Venezuela of failing to meet their international obligations to combat drug trafficking and warned that Colombia continues to produce too much cocaine.
The list of countries producing and transporting the most drugs this year compiled by Washington is Afghanistan, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, and Jamaica. , Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
The President of the United States must send this list to Congress each year to determine the amount of money devoted to the fight against drug trafficking.
Biden added China to the list after the law was amended to include countries where chemicals used to make synthetic drugs are manufactured.
“The United States urges China and other countries that produce these chemicals to strengthen their supply chains and prevent trafficking,” the president said in a written statement.
Mexican cartels are manufacturing fentanyl through cosmetics purchased legally in China and trafficking it to the United States, a substance that is fueling the worst opioid crisis in history, according to Washington.
In his memorandum, Biden re-added Bolivia, Venezuela and Burma to the list of countries that failed to comply with their obligations under international agreements against drug trafficking last year.
But he classified U.S. counter-drug programs in these countries as “critical” to prevent Congressional budget cuts.
The president called on Bolivia’s chief executive, Luis Arce, to take steps to “reduce the illegal coca crop, which continues to exceed the legal limits set by Bolivian law.”
Meanwhile, the president removed Afghanistan from this category after the Taliban made “progress” in reducing poppies used to produce heroin.
Although Colombia was not classified, Biden warned that “illicit coca crops and cocaine production remain at historic highs.”
He therefore called on the Gustavo Petro government to “expand its presence in coca-producing regions and prioritize efforts to achieve sustainable progress against criminal organizations.”
