U.S. Lawmakers Target China in Fentanyl Crisis with Bold New Bills

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced three bills targeting China's involvement in the fentanyl crisis. The legislation aims to form a task force to disrupt drug trafficking and impose sanctions on Chinese entities, holding China's ruling Communist Party accountable for the crisis.

Bipartisan U.S. lawmakers have proposed new legislation to combat China's role in the fentanyl crisis. Three bills aim to establish a U.S. task force to disrupt narcotics trafficking and impose sanctions on Chinese entities involved in the trade.

China is identified as a key source of chemical precursors for fentanyl production by Mexican cartels and its money launderers are implicated in the drug trade. The legislation intends to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for subsidizing these operations.

The CCP Fentanyl Sanctions Act, one of the proposed bills, seeks to prevent Chinese companies from accessing the U.S. banking system if involved in drug trade activities. Meanwhile, two additional bills would enhance U.S. agency cooperation to tackle trafficking and penalize Chinese entities bypassing legal channels for precursor shipment.

(With inputs from agencies.)