What countries are the sources?
Does it matter? With respect to the overall plague of drug abuse, I think not. If a source from one country is shut off supply will simply switch to a different country or to domestic production. As I pointed out in many posts, the illegal drug trade is in effect a multilevel marketing scheme which has never been approached for profitability because the price is guaranteed by the government, the more the government cuts off supply the higher the price, the higher the price the more attractive the risks to supply. The more we win the more we lose.
With respect to our foreign policy, I think the source country matters a great deal. For example, we find ourselves funding both sides of the war in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban who profit from the drug trade which we ultimately finance. That was the dilemma for years in Columbia. We find ourselves cutting off remittances to Cuba while Cuba is making money in America from the drug trade.
Our foreign policy, like our domestic war on drugs, is a series of missteps and unanticipated negative consequences.
There was a 60 Minutes episode on a couple weeks back that stated according to the DEA/FBI that most Fentanyl coming into the US is shipped from China. It is being sent through the US MAIL. Not Fedex or UPS. The United States postal system. It is worth watching this 60 Minutes segment.
In some cases the fentanyl is shipped inside a container to a US port. Then trucked to a distribution center. From there it is mailed to local dealers around the country. In other cases it is mailed directly from mainland China.
This is another stupid deal the US postal service made that allows cheap imports from China. It is cheaper to mail a package from China, than it is inside the US. That is why there are companies on EBAY that sell and ship directly from China to you in the US.
The postal service is behind UPS and FEDEX in installing the scanning equipment that these non governmental shipping companies were mandated to install. Therefore, the drug smugglers are taking advantage of this loophole while it lasts.
Keep in mind a 1-2 once package of Fentanyl is toxic enough to kill thousands of people. One or two grains can literally kill you. When they showed a table full of packages on TV the FBI agent was wearing rubber gloves as was Scoot Pelly. Just touching the powder can kill you.
Fentanyl is a derivative developed from a tranquilizer for elephants. It is used by surgeons all over the world. My son was given it as part of his medication when his wisdom teeth were removed.