On Monday (December 15), US President Donald Trump said that fentanyl would be classified as a weapon of mass destruction, increasing his administration’s campaign on drug traffickers in Latin America and presenting the opioid crisis as a national security concern on par with nuclear and chemical weapons.
Donald Trump stated at the White House while signing an executive order
Trump stated at the White House while signing an executive order that fentanyl was more dangerous than any bomb. “No bomb does what this is doing — 200-300,000 people die every year, that we know of” .
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The executive order classifies illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, claiming that its manufacturing and distribution endangers US national security and fuels instability in the region and at the country’s borders. The memo claims that fentanyl is “closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic,” and that its production and distribution “threatens our national security and fuels lawlessness in our hemisphere and at our borders.”
Is fentanyl as hazardous as a bomb?
No, official data do not support Trump’s fatality figures. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US would see an estimated 80,000 overdose deaths in 2024, with around 48,000 connected to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
However, the storyline is consistent with Trump’s broader campaign against what his administration refers to as “narco-terrorists.” Since early September, the US Navy has conducted strikes on more than 20 suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean, killing roughly 90 individuals. Trump claims that each warship destroyed saves 25,000 American lives.
Experts point out, however, that the majority of the vessels targeted are thought to be transporting cocaine, not fentanyl. The synthetic opioid enters the United States mostly via land channels from Mexico, rather than marine smuggling from nations such as Colombia or Venezuela.
The strikes have coincided with a massive US naval buildup in the Caribbean, including the deployment of the world’s largest aircraft carrier and several destroyers. In recent weeks, US military aircraft have flown repeatedly along Venezuela’s coastline.
Washington argues that the buildup is aimed at counter-narcotics activities. Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused the United States of using drug trafficking as a pretext to seek regime change. The Trump administration has openly tied Maduro to the issue, accusing him of running the “Cartel of the Suns,” which it labeled as a narco-terrorist organization last month, and offering a $50 million reward for information leading to his capture.
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