As i sit here and ponder the nature, causes, and effects of fentanyl, bitcoin, and the global drug trade, it brings me back to the 1800’s and the elicit drug trade of opium by the British in China. British sea trade companies were advantageous in illegally smuggling opium. The effects were far reaching, causing millions of Chinese statesmen to become addicted to such a drug. British merchants would stop off in India, grow the crop, then transport it into Canton, where it was sold and distributed despite upheaval by the Qing Dynasty, the ruling party in China at the time. Since China refused to buy foreign goods, British sea merchants found a way into Chinese markets by getting the population addicted to the drug. As a result, British sea merchants and companies were able to siphon Chinese wealth out of the country and create a favorable trade balance with Chinese merchants and companies. Although the goal of creating an unbalanced trade differential does not seem to be the goal today, what we see today in America as well as all over the world, is the modern day version of the Opium trade and Opium Wars.
Before we can dive into the mix of Fentanyl, Bitcoin, and the global drug trade, we must first understand how fentanyl trafficking began. After the crackdown on the pharmaceutical opioid crisis in America of the 2000’s, we have entered a new growing epidemic, one which is far greater and more deadly than that of the pharmaceutical drug epidemic. Fentanyl drug trade began being tracked by the DEA amongst other federal bureaucratic agencies in 2019. What they found is simply alarming. Chinese chemical companies began producing pre-cursors, or material used to make fentanyl sometime around 2019 or even before. These pre-cursors make their way to Mexico or through the shipping or mail service industries in the states. In Mexico, cartel networks take the pre-cursors and make the illegal substance in clandestine labs where they are then packaged in powder or pill form, then shipped across the southern border illegally. Once in the United States, they make their way across interstate systems through a network of drug traffickers to their final destination in the hands of local drug dealers and eventually into the hands of opiate users.
Despite sanctions by the Treasury, indictments of Chinese and Mexican nationalists and individuals, as well as new scheduling laws and restrictions by the People’s Republic of China, fentanyl distribution still falls through the cracks of local, state, and federal executive enforcement agencies. This happens due to vulnerabilities in supply chain economics. For example, large chemical markets with legitimate trade make diversion to illicit use hard to detect. By altering shipment labels and using heavy trafficked ports, fentanyl is able to make its way across the globe much easier than ever before despite efforts to crackdown on the trade. In addition, financial levers are used to traffick drugs and money across international borders. Through the use of shell companies, banks, and money services, companies, cartel networks, and individuals are able to to move money and chemicals much easier than ever before.
In the wake of the crypto-currency revolution, individuals, cartel networks, and companies are able to send and receive payments without federal and state oversight. Due to unregulated markets, crypto holders are able to circumvent executive agencies and regulation, making it easier to fulfill financial transactions between chemical suppliers, cartel networks, and individuals. While further investigating this aspect of the drug trade, U.S. attorney generals have indicted 8 Chinese led companies and individuals within the company for illegally manufacturing the pre-cursors for fentanyl. In all 8 indictments, it showed that Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies were used by individuals to send and receive money via these platforms. As the world evolves much more rapidly than ever, it appears that individuals and networks are able to stay one step ahead of and hide financial transactions from law enforcement and government entities due to the highly unregulated and difficult to track crypto-currency industry. This leads to questions over the future of crypto and its unregulated nature. Should government agencies be able to track and seize crypto-currency holdings of known drug traffickers and their counterparts due to their illicit activities or should the government maintain a laissez faire approach to this new financial instrument altogether as it was envisioned? Should a government be able to freeze an individual's crypto wallet and halt all transactions to and from that said individual in order to combat the global drug trade? Finally, how can we keep the system from being compromised while protecting citizens from companies, networks, and individuals who wish to inflict harm on the general population through flooding our streets and neighborhoods with illicit drugs like fentanyl.
As we continue this story, I want to highlight the successes of the federal government and local law enforcement, while at the same time highlighting the sheer volume at which global drug trade networks are producing fentanyl. In 2024 alone, more than 60 million fentanyl laced pills as well as nearly 8,000 pounds of fentanyl was seized by the DEA alone. As of September 22nd of 2025, the DEA reports, over 34 million pills and over 7,000 pounds of powder were confiscated by DEA agents at the border and throughout the country.
This is not just a small political issue, but one that affects the geopolitical atmosphere of the entire globe. As companies continue to produce pre-cursors and cartel networks in Mexico continue to use clandestine labs to produce fentanyl, we must act now to halt the production and sale of this illicit drug that kills tens of thousands of opiate users every year. But how you may ask? There is no simple fix to such a monumental task, but first we start with money. Governments around the world must be able to go after the crypto-currency and exchanges that allow the flow of currency from companies, cartel networks, and individuals. What governments do with the seizure of currency is a topic for another day, and so i continue. Foreign governments must work together to hold those responsible for the manufacturing and smuggling of fentanyl in international court systems, showing solidarity and union despite geographic distances. In my opinion, that starts with geopolitical relations between China and the United States. In order to combat the drug trade, China and America must work together to shut down and eliminate the chemical manufacturing of fentanyl pre-cursors before they are able to be shipped abroad. From there, the international community must play a watchful eye in the future moves of manufacturing elsewhere once it is completely shut down in China. The creation of a global and domestic fentanyl task force of agents dedicated to the elimination of such drugs as fentanyl may be required. In the end, I believe that going after the money and means of production is tantamount in curtailing the fentanyl drug trade.
But what about the users themselves? This is a trivial question to ask any individual or government entity. To some, drug users may appear to be “doing it to themselves.” Nevertheless, access to naloxone is the primary focus of medical officials and law enforcement officers as it pertains to fentanyl users. Access to care is the most important aspect of rehabilitation. Without it, it creates a vicious cycle of relapse, further straining resources and public opinion on drug use and fentanyl as a whole. Simply jailing users is not the best option even though they are able to get clean and receive care inside the walls of the penitentiary. In the end, opiate use disorder is a disease, and needs to be treated by medical professionals, law enforcement, and the general public as such.
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