LOS ANGELES — The fight against Fentanyl is picking up across the state of California and the country.
On April 14, the Department of Justice announced charges against members of the Sinaloa Cartel. Attorney General Merrick Garland said during a press conference that the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. has been fueled primarily by the Cartel.
“Families and communities across our country are being devastated by the fentanyl epidemic,” Garland stated. “Today’s actions demonstrate the comprehensive approach the justice department is taking to disrupt fentanyl trafficking and save American lives.”
The DOJ indicted people at every point along the fentanyl supply chain, beginning with those who manufacture fentanyl precursor materials and chemicals. The manufacturing of chemicals, they say, happens primarily in China.
“The Sinaloa Cartel operated as an affiliation of drug traffickers and money launderers who obtain precursor chemicals — largely from China — for the manufacture of synthetic drugs,” reads the DOJ’s statement.
The Sinaloa Cartel is run by the sons of drug dealer, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is currently serving a life sentence in the U.S. His sons are known as the “Chapitos.” According to the Justice Department, they operate using violence and wield massive amounts of power.
“The Chapito’s security forces attack law enforcement, intimidate civilians, destroy unsupportive buissness, and capture contested territory,” Garland stated. “They often torture and kill their victims. They have fed some of their victims, dead and alive, to tigers belonging to the Chapitos.”
According to the DOJ, between August 2019 and August 2022, 10,735 people died of drug overdoses in the U.S. — primarily overdoses from fentanyl. One city where the crisis is being felt acutely is in San Francisco.
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new public safety partnership to “disrupt fentanyl trafficking in San Francisco.”
“We’re taking action,” Newsom said in a statement. “Through this new collaborative partnership, we are providing more law enforcement resources and personnel to crack down on crime linked to the fentanyl crisis, holding the peddlers accountable, and increasing law enforcement presence to improve public safety and public confidence in San Francisco.”
The National Guard and California Highway Patrol will be working with the San Francisco Police Department and San Francisco District Attorney’s office. The governor says this is an effort to hold “operators of large-scale drug trafficking accountable.”
At the state Capitol in Sacramento this week, more fentanyl-related legislation is on the table. In the state Assembly, Republicans brokered a deal to move up the date of several fentanyl-related bills.
The special hearing at the Assembly is scheduled for Thursday.
