In response to the accusations made by the United States against China for being a supplier of fentanyl, the Chinese Ambassador to Mexico, Zhang Run, stated before Mexican senators that “no problems related to fentanyl smuggling have ever been detected between the countries.” He also mentioned that the Chinese government has not received any reports from the Mexican government regarding such cases. Therefore, the diplomat assured that the root cause of fentanyl abuse lies in the US’ control mechanisms and the domestic demand for the substance.
However, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed to have evidence of illegal fentanyl trafficking from China, which Beijing has denied since receiving the letter from the Mexican president addressing this issue. “We already have the evidence. A shipment arrived from a port in China to the port of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, so all the laboratory analyses were undertaken, and we will send this information,” López Obrador declared in a press conference. In this regard, the president will send another letter to President Xi Jinping to reiterate his request for support in combating the illegal trafficking of fentanyl.
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El Universal. Rodríguez, L. (2023, 18 de abril). Entre México y China no hay contrabando de fentanilo, asegura embajador Zhang Ru
Find out more:
EFE Noticias. (2023, 5 de mayo). Presidente de México asegura tener pruebas del tráfico de fentanilo de China.