Trump, cartels and the war on fentanyl

This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler

Podmasters

News, Politics, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The highly potent opioid fentanyl is a major cause of death in the US – and the global trade of the drug is also a cause of growing geopolitical division. Trump has claimed tariffs on Mexico and Canada are targeting the supply of the drug; his China tariffs have complicated efforts to stem exports of the ingredients needed for its production, and fractures among cartels pushing fentanyl could well reshape underworld activity worldwide. In the latest episode of This Is Not A Drill, Emma Beals discusses the global effects of the fentanyl trade with Vanda Felbab-Brown, director of the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors and senior fellow in the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at the Brookings Institution. • This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by Incogni, the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to https://incogni.com/notadrill to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan. • Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this. Written and presented by Emma Beals. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Advertising helps fund our podcasts, but we know some people would prefer the shows without adverts.
0:06.7	If that's you, why not support us on Patreon?
0:09.8	You'll get every episode without interruptions, and you'll be helping independent podcasting to thrive.
0:16.2	Follow the link in the show notes to find out more.
0:26.8	Thank you. link in the show notes to find out more. Fentanyl has been the leading cause of death in US adults aged 18 to 45 and at its peak
0:32.7	was killing nearly 80,000 Americans every year. President Trump has promised to be tough on fentanyl.
0:39.0	He's claimed his tariffs on Mexico and Canada are targeting importation of the drug,
0:43.7	and his designated Mexican cartels responsible for its production and supply as foreign terrorist
0:49.2	organizations. But his antagonistic attitude to China has complicated efforts to stem exports of the ingredients needed for the drug,
0:57.8	and fractures and alliances in the cartels in response to his policies,
1:02.0	could reshape illicit trade and underworld activity around the globe.
1:06.3	So how could a very American war on a very American drug impact global trade and security?
1:13.1	I'm Emma Beals and this is not a drill. Fentanyl is predominantly manufactured and exported from Mexico, using ingredients imported from China.
1:45.8	Stopping this supply has proved difficult, so recent drops and overdose numbers in the US are largely attributed to
1:51.9	the influx in funding for medications that stop fatalities and addiction treatment. Trump is reducing
1:57.9	federal funding for these interventions while trying to go after the source.
2:02.4	But not everything he does is likely to succeed, and we're already seeing the second-order
2:06.4	effects of his policies.
2:08.4	My guest has just given testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that unpacked
2:13.0	the shadowy underworld of fentanyl production and supply, as well as the trade and foreign policy
2:17.9	interventions and impacts of the war against the drug. And she's here to do the same for us.
2:23.3	I'm joined by Vanda Felberg Brown, a scholar of crime, conflict and non-traditional security threats
	...

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