US moves to treat fentanyl as weapon of mass destruction Trump signs the order

On December 15, President Donald Trump signed an executive order formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, a move that significantly expands the US government’s legal authorities in its campaign against the trafficking of the synthetic opioid.

According to POLITICO, the executive order cites fentanyl’s extreme lethality, noting that the drug kills tens of thousands of Americans each year. It also points to the role of transnational criminal organisations — designated by the Trump administration as foreign terrorist groups — that use fentanyl trafficking to finance activities deemed a threat to US national security.

Speaking from the Oval Office during the signing, Trump said drug flows into the United States constitute “a direct military threat to the United States of America.” He added that the volume of drugs entering the country by sea has fallen by 94 per cent, while noting that most drugs, including fentanyl, still enter through land ports of entry.

The administration has made combating fentanyl a central pillar of its broader border security strategy, particularly along the US-Mexico border. Senior officials have argued that Trump’s strict immigration policies and expanded border enforcement have reduced both fentanyl trafficking and domestic consumption of the drug.

“With a secure border, lives are being saved every day, sex trafficking has plummeted, fentanyl has plummeted,” White House border czar Tom Homan said.

Designating a narcotic as a weapon of mass destruction is an almost unprecedented step for a US president, but the idea has circulated in policy debates in recent years. During the previous administration, a bipartisan group of state attorneys general publicly urged the Biden administration to classify fentanyl as a WMD, citing its potency and the fact that even minute quantities can cause mass fatalities through overdoses.

Fentanyl has limited legitimate medical uses, but the overwhelming majority of the drug circulating illegally in the United States is manufactured abroad. Most illicit fentanyl enters the US via Mexico, where drug cartels produce it using precursor chemicals imported primarily from China. Production has also expanded rapidly in the Golden Triangle region of Southeast Asia, encompassing Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Authorities say fentanyl’s ease of manufacture in small, makeshift laboratories has made efforts to dismantle production networks especially difficult.

The Trump administration has also accused cartels operating in Venezuela of trafficking fentanyl into the United States, using those allegations to justify the use of lethal force against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea. While Venezuela is widely regarded as a major transit hub for cocaine, it is not considered a significant source of global fentanyl production.

The timing of the WMD designation has drawn attention amid growing speculation that the United States could conduct land-based strikes against alleged drug trafficking targets inside Venezuela as part of its pressure campaign against President Nicolás Maduro. Classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction could provide additional legal justification for the use of military force.

Historically, the US claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction were used to justify the 2003 invasion and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s government under the administration of President George W. Bush.

US officials have also previously floated the possibility of military action against drug cartels operating in Colombia and Mexico, and it has been widely expected that Washington could eventually shift its focus away from Venezuela toward those countries as part of its broader counter-narcotics strategy.

By Tamilla Hasanova