Enlarge (credit: Getty | Drew Angerer)
A congressional report released Wednesday lays out just how easy it is for Americans to buy the deadly opioid fentanyl from Chinese suppliers online and have it shipped to them via the government’s own postal service. The report also lays out just how difficult the practice will be to stop.
After Googling phrases such as “fentanyl for sale,” Senate investigators followed up with just six of the online sellers they found. This eventually led them to 500 financial transaction records, accounting for about $ 766 million worth of fentanyl entering the country and at least seven traceable overdose deaths.
The 100-page report was based on a year-long probe by a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee. Overall, it confirms that supplies of the powerful and addictive opioid along with other illicit drugs are pouring in from China, which the Drug Enforcement Administration has long suspected.
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