From Mexico cartel safe house to US streets: BBC tracks deadly fentanyl targeted by Trump tariffs

The fentanyl trader from Los Angeles stands to the broadside watching cautiously arsenic a Mexican drugs cartel operative prepares his latest shipment. The synthetic opioid cause is wrapped successful foil, sealed successful plastic, past dropped with an oily splash into the petrol vessel of the trafficker's nondescript car.

Jay, not his existent name, had crossed earlier from the US to this cartel-run harmless location connected the Mexican broadside of the border. The location looks similar immoderate different successful this neighbourhood. We are told to thrust successful rapidly and an robust gross closes firmly down us. They don't navigator the cause here, but inactive they are wary of attracting attention. The men each talk successful hushed voices and enactment quickly.

Their lethal concern has go the centre of a quality causing shockwaves successful the planetary system aft the White House utilized fentanyl smuggling done US borders arsenic a cardinal justification for raising tariffs. US President Donald Trump has besides vowed to "wage war" connected the cause cartels.

The BBC gained uncommon entree to a cartel's cognition on the borderline and travelled to the US to conscionable their eventual customers, to spot if the planetary enactment was doing thing to halt the amerciable travel of narcotics.

The men we conscionable astatine the harmless location are foot-soldiers of a well-known cartel. Two of them loading the car admit to fleeting moments of remorse. But erstwhile I inquire the antheral packing the drugs into the substance vessel if helium feels blameworthy astir the deaths the pills cause, helium sniggers. "We person household too, of people we consciousness guilty. But if I stop, it's going to continue. It's not my problem," helium tells maine with a shrug.

The men support their faces covered portion they region the backmost spot of the car to summation entree to the tank, taking attraction not to spill petrol. The odor wrong the car could alert customs officers connected the different broadside of the borderline that the substance vessel has been tampered with.

The airy greenish pills, 5,000 successful full and marked with an M, are packed tightly - a fraction of what Jay says helium sells each week successful LA and crossed the American northwest.

"I effort to get 100,000 pills a week, each week," the softly spoken trader tells me. "I don't nonstop them 1 successful 1 vehicle. I effort to dispersed it successful antithetic cars. That mode I minimise my hazard of losing each my pills."

A 25% tariff connected each goods from Mexico was introduced successful effect to what President Donald Trump said was the unacceptable travel of amerciable drugs and amerciable immigrants into the US. Some of those tariffs person since been delayed until 2 April.

Defeating the fentanyl commercialized is 1 of President Trump's apical argumentation goals, but Jay doesn't complaint his chances.

"Last clip helium was successful office, helium tried to bash the aforesaid thing, and it ne'er happened. There's ever going to beryllium a demand. And where's the biggest demand? United States, fortunate for us. We're present successful the border," says Jay with a smile.

There is truthful overmuch of the cause flowing into the US, astir of it coming from Mexico, that according to Jay the terms helium sells for successful LA has fallen from astir $5 oregon $6 per pill a twelvemonth ago, to $1.50 present (£1.16).

Mexican constabulary accidental cartels switched successful a large mode to fentanyl, which is 50 times much potent than heroin, due to the fact that dissimilar different opiates - which are made from the opium poppy - it is wholly synthetic and overmuch easier to marque and transport.

Fentanyl's spot and addictiveness person near a heavy scar connected American society: cause overdoses termination much radical successful the US than guns oregon car crashes. Fatalities person started to decline, possibly successful portion to the greater availability of Naloxone, a cause that reverses the effects of overdoses of opioids. But the latest figures are inactive stark: 87,000 overdose deaths (mostly from opioids) from October 2023 to September 2024, down from 114,000 the twelvemonth before.

In an effort to stave disconnected punitive tariffs from the White House, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has pledged to nonstop 10,000 National Guard troops to the border. The authorities has made much than 900 arrests since October successful Sinola, a large cause trafficking hub. Back successful December, Mexico announced its biggest ever fentanyl seizure successful the state: much than a tonne of pills. In fact, the state has seized much fentanyl successful the past 5 months than it did successful the erstwhile year.

Mexico has besides made it harder to import a cardinal constituent of fentanyl from China, prompting cartels to trim the spot of each pill - and, successful the process, making them little deadly.

And astatine the extremity of February, 29 elder cause cartel figures were handed implicit to the United States, including members of 5 of the six Mexican transgression syndicates that President Trump's medication precocious designated arsenic violent organisations.

President Sheinbaum besides said she had agreed to the CIA expanding surveillance drone operations implicit Mexican territory successful hunt of fentanyl drugs labs, aft the media revealed the covert missions.

Jay acknowledges the dangers of his commercialized to himself and his customers, but is untroubled.

"They ever effort to blasted us, that we are the ones that are poisoning American citizens. But they're the biggest users.

He coolly insulates himself from work and guilt for the deaths his drugs cause. He claims not to cognize anyone who has died utilizing his product. "I lone woody with different suppliers," helium tells me.

The cartels mostly usage American citizens to courier their drugs crossed the border, arsenic they are little apt to beryllium stopped by US Customs and Border Protection. The driver, who goes by the sanction Charlie, has a US passport. He, too, is mostly indifferent to the suffering the fentanyl epidemic has caused.

"I request the money," helium says. When I inquire him however galore times helium has made the drugs run, helium replies: "Too many." (I aboriginal larn that the 5,000 pills successful the substance vessel made it crossed the borderline without incident.)

President Sheinbaum has besides precocious emphasised the request broadside of the crisis, saying the US fentanyl situation began with the ineligible but "irresponsible approval" of painkillers, specified arsenic OxyContin, starting successful the precocious 1990s. "The US authorities should instrumentality work for the opioid-consumption situation that has caused truthful galore deaths," she said astatine a regular quality conference.

In Philadelphia's Kensington neighbourhood - dubbed the largest open-air drugs marketplace connected the US eastbound seashore - Rosalind Pichardo of Operation Save Our City is connected to her 2nd Bible. She records successful the book's backmost pages the fig of times she has reversed an opioid overdose utilizing the quick-acting cause Naloxone.

For the past six years, the fig totals 2,931. She flicks done the pages and that fig written successful reddish comes live with the memories of the individuals she saved, and the ones she lost.

She begins to list: "Male successful his 60s… antheral 30s… pistillate successful her 30s, precise thin, nary hair." Beside each sanction successful this roll-call of fentanyl victims, is the fig of doses of Naloxone - sold nether the sanction Narcan - she utilized to effort to revive people.

Ms Pichardo, who runs a drop-in centre called Sunshine House, operates what she calls a "no-judgement zone". She bristles astatine the presumption similar "addict", "junkie" oregon "zombie", which person been utilized to picture the radical of her neighbourhood. Instead, she calls everyone "sunshine".

Some she doesn't remember; others she volition ne'er forget.

"Look astatine this one, 7 years old, 2 Narcans," she points out. Ms Pichardo had been called to a neighbour's location wherever a pistillate was holding successful her arms a kid who had turned blue. Ms Pichardo went wrong and the miss was placed connected the floor, but arsenic she entered the child's begetter ran upstairs carrying a bag. "I'm reasoning if that was my child, I'd beryllium moving to assistance the child," she recalls.

At first, she thought it mightiness beryllium epilepsy, but she spotted cause scales and integrative baggies connected a adjacent table. The kid's dada was a cause dealer; the seven-year-old had been poisoned by his stash and overdosed. "I was livid," she says.

Those 2 doses of Narcan were capable to prevention the child's life.

On different page, a woman, six months pregnant, 2 doses of Narcan. She besides survived.

In Kensington, drugs are inexpensive and plentiful, and radical sprout up successful the open. As she walks the neighbourhood, Ms Pichardo finds radical passed retired connected the pavement, a pistillate successful a stupor with her trousers down, a antheral lying prone adjacent to a metro turnstile, different antheral successful a wheelchair, his eyes closed and wealth successful his hands.

He, similar a increasing fig of opioid users, has had a limb amputated. A caller cause connected the street, the carnal tranquilliser Xylazine, is being mixed with fentanyl. It leads to unfastened wounds which go infected. The aerial is fertile successful places.

John White is 56 years old, and for 40 of those years helium has struggled with addiction. At Sunshine House, Ms Pichardo serves him a vessel of homemade soup.

"I've been successful this metropolis each my life," helium says. "The fentanyl and opioid epidemic is the worst I've ever seen. Fentanyl volition get you truthful hooked that you person to get more. So they enactment it successful everything."

Mr White had a fentanyl overdose aft smoking a associated laced with the drug: it is being added to each kinds of illicit drugs, including heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

Ms Pichardo holds retired small anticipation that adjacent if the fentanyl commercialized is chopped disconnected from Mexico that it volition amended people's lives successful Kensington.

"The occupation that we person with the warfare connected drugs is - it didn't enactment past [and] I don't judge it's going to enactment now," she explains.

When the proviso of 1 cause is chopped off, different replaces it, she says. "Once determination was heroin, present there's nary more. Now there's fentanyl. When there's nary fentanyl, present it's going to beryllium Xylazine. So it's similar they'll find a mode to support radical addicted truthful that radical tin marque wealth disconnected of people, disconnected the suffering of people," says Ms Pichardo.

Directly crossed from Sunshine House, a young pistillate is recovered collapsed connected the pavement, her assemblage splayed crossed the concrete: she's unresponsive. Ms Pichardo is rapidly connected the scene, her aesculapian kit by her side, yet again administering Naloxone. The pistillate is yet revived - she volition survive.

Roz Pichardo returns to Sunshine House, different beingness saved and different digit to beryllium added to the backmost pages of her tattered Bible.

Top picture: Darren Conway, BBC