Stats show illegal drug trafficking rampant in US, despite Biden administration vow to combat it

While President Joe Biden vowed to combat illegal drug trafficking during his administration, statistics show that it is still on the rise and negatively impacting everyday Americans. 

In 2022, President Joe Biden announced his National Drug Control Strategy that had a goal to address untreated addiction and to strengthen law enforcement's ability to go after drug traffickers.

"The Strategy prioritizes a targeted response to drug traffickers and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) by hitting them where it hurts the most: their wallets," the White House said in a press release two years ago. 

According to a recent report from The Hill, two powerful Mexican drug cartels have eliminated competition regarding trafficking drugs in 2024. 

The cartels, Sinaloa and Jalisco are two of the deadliest drug cartels that have impacted the U.S. According to government officials, 200 Americans a day die from the drug fentanyl which is often trafficked by cartels. 

According to the report, about 38,000 deaths tied to fentanyl were reported during the first half of 2023. 

Both fentanyl and methamphetamine have been trafficked across the U.S. southern border and have impacted multiple states, including Florida, Mississippi and Wyoming. 

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration released a report last month that stated that the Sinaloa Cartel and money launderers have an alliance that could be linked to Chinese underground banking. 

"The Justice Department today announced a 10-count superseding indictment charging Los Angeles-based associates of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel with conspiring with money-laundering groups linked to Chinese underground banking to launder drug trafficking proceeds," the DEA said in a release. 

"During the conspiracy, more than $50 million in drug proceeds flowed between the Sinaloa Cartel associates and Chinese underground money exchanges," the release continued. 

China is the primary source of chemicals that are manufactured into fentanyl by the Mexican drug cartels. 

The DEA has referred to fentanyl as the "nation’s greatest and most urgent drug threat."

The DEA released its 2024 national drug threat assessment in which it said that the seizures of fentanyl powder had nearly doubled over the past two years. 

About 13,176 kilograms (29,048 pounds) of fentanyl was seized by the department in 2023.