The Biden administration has refused to condemn Mexico after top officials in its government have denied any culpability in the fentanyl crisis in recent weeks.
Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Todd Robinson is currently traveling to Mexico City for meetings on the international drug trade and the fentanyl epidemic. Leading up to his visit, top Mexican officials, including President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, have cast the overdose issue as an entirely American one.
Daily Caller Reporter @Dylan_Housman presses State Department Spokesperson on Mexico denying their role in the fentanyl crisis
HOUSMAN: “Are you satisfied with what they’re doing on the issue of fentanyl?”
STATE DEPT. SPOX: “I’m not going to offer a specific assessment.” pic.twitter.com/qNt7Eblc2y
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 29, 2023
“Here, we do not produce fentanyl, and we do not have consumption of fentanyl,” Lopez Obrador said earlier this month. “Why don’t they (the United States) take care of their problem of social decay?”
The Mexican president’s statement is demonstrably false. Seizures of fentanyl at the southern border of the United States are at record highs, and synthetic drug labs have been found in Mexico. Experts say manufacturers in China send fentanyl powder to Mexico where it is pressed into pills.
Lopez Obrador also said recently that the reason Americans are overdosing on fentanyl isn’t because of supply from Mexico, but because Americans weren’t hugged enough growing up. Mexico’s top diplomat in North America, Roberto Velasco Alvarez, recently added that there is “no record” of fentanyl synthesis or production in Mexico.
The Biden administration, which claims to value stopping the fentanyl crisis as a top priority, has not condemned or otherwise spoken negatively about the comments from Mexican officials. Rather, the State Department continues to laud Mexico as a key partner on the issue.
“It is something that we continue to work closely on with our Mexican partners, and it’s something that we’ll continue to engage with them on,” State Department Deputy Principal Spokesman Vedant Patel said Wednesday. (RELATED: ‘You’re Welcoming Drug Dealers’: Tearful Mother Who Lost Two Sons To Fentanyl Slams Democrats Over Border Crisis)
When pressed on whether or not the administration is satisfied with Mexico’s efforts, Patel said he would not “offer a specific assessment.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is reportedly nearing a deal with Mexican authorities to further crack down on fentanyl processing south of the border.