Published on Wednesday, the advisories are focused on four facets of illegal drug trafficking: manufacturing, marketing, movement, and money. Directed at financial institutions and the private sector in a bid to tackle the trade of illicit substances, the note said: “The United States is in the midst of an unparalleled epidemic of addiction and death, fueled by the illicit trafficking, sale, distribution, and misuse of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.” According to the note, fentanyl is trafficked into the United States in several ways: as a direct purchase from China by US individuals for personal use or domestic distribution, or via cross-border trafficking from Mexico. “Last year alone, federal agents seized enough fentanyl to kill every American man, woman, and child four times,” said Kellyanne Conway, a controversial senior counsellor to the president, in a statement. It’s not surprising that cryptocurrency has played such a crucial role in the advisory note, given that US law enforcement has taken a somewhat active role in terms of cracking down on dark web marketplaces such as Silk Road and AlphaBay. But let’s not forget that cash, which unlike Bitcoin is totally untraceable, is usually the preferred method of payment among criminals.
