Merrick Garland dodges reporters’ questions about China’s role in combating fentanyl crisis

Attorney General Merrick Garland dodged questions Tuesday about the Chinese government’s unwillingness to work with the U.S. to target the illicit fentanyl supply chain during a press conference announcing a new series of indictments.

The Biden administration indicted eight individuals and companies in China involved in fentanyl and methamphetamine production, distribution and sales, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Garland couldn’t answer questions about China’s criticism of the U.S. for its counternarcotics efforts involving fentanyl.

In June, the Biden administration announced similar prosecutions involving Chinese individuals and companies involved in supplying the illicit market of fentanyl, according to the DOJ.

“China responded that it was illegal, bullyism and that it could harm future partnership in counternarcotics. I wonder, have you seen or have any of your partners on stage seen any change in behavior from China since that last wave of indictments or is this kind of like a whack-a-mole, name-and-shame indictments system, where you’re calling out what’s going on?” a reporter asked during Tuesday’s presser.

“In the last indictments you talked about, we did get some arrests. In this case, none of the defendants have been arrested, but the Treasury Department has sanctioned all of them, that often leads to further associated arrests and as you well know the Justice Department has a very long memory and it is our intention to bring every one of these defendants to justice in the United States,” Garland responded.

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Another reporter asked Garland about efforts to bolster law enforcement coordination in this case and others.

“I don’t believe there was any PRC [People’s Republic of China] assistance in this case,” Garland said, deferring to other administration officials present at the press conference who didn’t follow up with a response.

Fentanyl, which is largely responsible for the 105,263 drug deaths that occurred between February 2022 and January, is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 49, according to the DOJ.

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