Washington — President Trump on Monday signed an government order designating illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, directing the Pentagon and Justice Division to take further steps to fight manufacturing and distribution of the drug and its precursors.
The chief order casts fentanyl as not only a deadly drug, however as a possible chemical weapon. The White Home says the transfer “unleashes each device to fight the cartels and overseas networks chargeable for flooding communities with this lethal substance,” warning that fentanyl may very well be weaponized for “concentrated, large-scale terror assaults by organized adversaries.”
The designation means the Pentagon may support the Justice Division with Division of Protection property to implement the felony code associated to fentanyl, and the Justice Division will seemingly pursue harsher penalties for fentanyl-related crimes.
The order comes because the president has stated he’s making ready to develop the U.S. marketing campaign in opposition to alleged drug traffickers in South America, following greater than 20 boat strikes in opposition to vessels within the Caribbean and japanese Pacific. Many of the fentanyl that enters the U.S. is manufactured in Mexico utilizing chemical compounds primarily imported from China and India. The drug is then smuggled into the U.S., principally by way of ports of entry.
“With this historic government order … we’re formally classifying as a weapon of mass destruction, which is what it’s,” the president stated on the White Home. “No bomb does what this has executed. 200,000 to 300,000 individuals die yearly, that we all know of. So we’re formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.”
Fentanyl overdose is the main reason behind loss of life for People ages 18 to 45. The Drug Enforcement Administration says greater than 107,000 individuals died from a drug overdose within the U.S. in 2023, and practically 70% of these deaths had been attributed to opioids like fentanyl.
The president’s government order describes illicit fentanyl as fentanyl that’s manufactured, distributed, disbursed or possessed in violation of the Managed Substances Act. It makes no point out of fentanyl used legally in medical settings.
The FBI defines a WMD as a “damaging gadget, corresponding to an explosive or incendiary bomb, rocket, or grenade; a weapon that’s designed to trigger loss of life or severe damage by way of poisonous or toxic chemical; a weapon that incorporates a organic agent or toxin;” or “a weapon that’s designed to launch harmful ranges of radiation or radioactivity.”
Some members of Congress beforehand sought to categorise fentanyl as a WMD.
