What is Fentanyl? Why Is Donald Trump Designating It As Weapon of Mass Destruction?

Washington DC: US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) signed an Executive Order officially designating illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals as weapons of mass destruction (WMD), escalating the federal government's efforts to combat the drug crisis and target cartels and foreign networks responsible for the opioid crisis.

According to the Fact Sheet issued by the White House, the Executive Order directs the US Attorney General to immediately pursue criminal charges, sentencing enhancements, and variances in fentanyl trafficking cases and also instructs the US Secretaries of State and the Treasury to take action against relevant assets and financial institutions linked to the manufacture, distribution, and sale of illicit fentanyl.

In addition, the Order calls on the US Secretary of War and the US Attorney General to determine whether enhanced national security resources should be allocated to the US Department of Justice during emergencies involving fentanyl as a WMD.

The Secretary of War, in consultation with the US Secretary of Homeland Security, is also tasked with updating chemical incident response directives to address the fentanyl threat, while Homeland Security will identify fentanyl smuggling networks using WMD and nonproliferation intelligence.

In his factsheet, Trump has described illicit fentanyl as "closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic", noting that just two milligrams--equivalent to 10-15 grains of table salt--is considered a lethal dose.

He highlighted the use of fentanyl profits by cartels and foreign terrorist organisations to fund assassinations, terrorism, and insurgencies, warning of the potential for concentrated, large-scale attacks on the United States.

By designating fentanyl as a WMD, the US President said the US federal government can now deploy its full resources in a coordinated effort to dismantle cartels, eradicate the drug from American streets, and protect families.

The move follows Trump's broader actions to combat drug trafficking, including declaring a national emergency at the southern border, designating eight cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organisations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists, imposing tariffs on countries failing to curb drug flows, authorising military strikes to disrupt narcotics operations, and signing the HALT Fentanyl Act to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs.