can be easily and legally purchased online for just a few thousand dollars — and regulators are almost powerless to stop it, a shocking new investigation found.
The ingredients were ordered from a seller in China and shipped to Mexico, before reaching their final destination in the US.Just $3,600 was needed to purchase enough ingredients to produce about $3 million in street value of the high-addictive opioid that kills thousands of Americans each year, according to a Reuters investigation.
By the 1970s, the mega-addictive drug had made its way onto the streets in laced doses of heroin known as “China White.” For years China supplied most of the fentanyl that crossed the sea to poison Americans, but after a Beijing crackdown in 2019, the Mexican cartels stepped in to fill the void. Once orders were placed, the chemicals were either shipped in mislabeled boxes, stashed inside products like cat food, or sent outright to their destinations — many of which were processed and passed by US Customs officials often left powerless to do anything but wave the legal goods through.