47,000 Americans died of Fentanyl overdose in 2014 alone. |
Despite the dangers, Chinese vendors offer to sell carfentanil openly online, for worldwide export, no questions asked, an Associated Press investigation has found. The AP identified 12 Chinese businesses that said they would export carfentanil to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium and Australia for as little as $2,750 a kilogram.
Carfentanil burst into view this summer as the latest scourge in an epidemic of opioid abuse that has killed tens of thousands in the U.S. alone. In China, the top global source of synthetic drugs, carfentanil is not a controlled substance. The U.S. government is pressing China to blacklist it, but Beijing has yet to act.
“We can supply carfentanil ... for sure,” a saleswoman from Jilin Tely Import and Export Co. wrote in broken English in a September email. “And it’s one of our hot sales product.” The AP did not actually order any drugs, or test whether the products on offer were genuine. China’s Ministry of Public Security declined multiple requests for comment.