International Measures to Combat Fentanyl Trafficking President Donald Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, and China is partly aimed at combating the illicit flow of fentanyl into the U.S., where the opioid is blamed for some 70,000 overdose deaths annually.
Mexico announced in December the seizure of more than a ton of fentanyl pills in what it described as the largest bust of synthetic opioids in the country’s history. The haul was striking because fentanyl seizures in Mexico had fallen dramatically in the first half of 2024.
Mexico’s Border Security Efforts To pause the tit-for-tat tariffs, Mexico agreed to immediately deploy 10,000 National Guard troops to the border to battle drug-trafficking, while the U.S. committed to doing more to stop the trafficking of guns into Mexico, said Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on social media.
Mike Vigil, the former chief of international operations at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, said he was skeptical that Mexico’s extra troops at the border on their own would make much of a dent in trafficking. “Even if Mexico, Canada, and these other countries snap their fingers and did away with the drug trade, as long as we have that demand, there will be another country that will satisfy that demand.”
