WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signed an executive order classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, as he called the synthetic opioid a grave national security threat and vowed intensified action against trafficking networks fueling the crisis.
“With this historic executive order, I will sign today, we’re formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, ” Trump said. “No bomb does what this is doing.”
Trump said fentanyl deaths far exceeded commonly reported figures. “Two hundred to three hundred thousand people die every year that we know of, ” he said, describing the impact on American families as devastating.
The President linked fentanyl trafficking to hostile actors targeting the United States. “America’s adversaries are trafficking fentanyl into the United States in part because they want to kill Americans, ” he said.