Mexico criticizes US for classifying fentanyl as ‘weapon of mass destruction’

AFP | Mexico City

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President Claudia Sheinbaum said yesterday the fight against fentanyl should focus on root causes of the crisis, as she criticized a new US classification of the deadly drug as a “weapon of mass wdestruction.”

President Donald Trump said Monday he was placing fentanyl in the same category as nuclear and chemical weapons as he ramps up his campaign against drug cartels in Latin America. “I have raised this with President Trump -- the causes of drug use must be addressed, not just this approach of now classifying one of the drugs as a lethal weapon of mass destruction,” Sheinbaum told reporters.

The fentanyl classification ties in with the Trump administration’s campaign against alleged “narco-terrorists,” which has included a military campaign targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats.

The vessels are thought to be transporting cocaine rather than far-deadlier fentanyl, which is primarily smuggled into the United States from Mexico rather than by boat from Colombia or Venezuela.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an estimated 80,000 overdose deaths in the country in 2024, with some 48,000 of those due to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

The executive order said “illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic,” and that its manufacture and distribution threatens US national security.