US report finds Mexico is dominant source of fentanyl trafficked into US

A new government report out Tuesday details how opioid trafficking in the United States has changed in recent years, with Mexico now a "dominant source" of the country's fentanyl supply and synthetic opioids rapidly saturating drug markets.

In its report, the federal Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking -- a bipartisan group of US lawmakers, experts and officials from federal departments and agencies -- warns that if the US does nothing to change its response to the new challenges, more American lives will be lost.

"This is one of our most-pressing national security, law enforcement, and public health challenges, and we must do more as a nation and a government to protect our most precious resource ― American lives," said Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Democratic Rep. David Trone of Maryland, the commission's co-chairs, in a letter included in the report.

From June 2020 to May 2021, fentanyl and synthetic opioids accounted for roughly two-thirds of the more than 100,000 deaths in the US from drug overdoses, the report found. The fatalities were mostly among Americans ages 18 to 45.