This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Illegal shipments of the powerful and addictive opioid fentanyl are pouring into the United States by mail from China and the US Postal Service must step up the use of hi-tech detection methods to fight the problem, according to a congressional report unveiled on Wednesday.

A year-long investigation by a Senate homeland security and government affairs investigations subcommittee found there is easy access for buyers in the United States to purchase fentanyl, often in relatively large quantities, through the internet.

The drugs are mailed by “labs” in China to individuals who consume them or to middlemen who dilute them for resale.

Q&A Why is there an opioid crisis in America? Show Hide Almost 100 people are dying every day across America from opioid overdoses – more than car crashes and shootings combined. The majority of these fatalities reveal widespread addiction to powerful prescription painkillers. The crisis unfolded in the mid-90s when the US pharmaceutical industry began marketing legal narcotics, particularly OxyContin, to treat everyday pain. This slow-release opioid was vigorously promoted to doctors and, amid lax regulation and slick sales tactics, people were assured it was safe. But the drug was akin to luxury morphine, doled out like super aspirin, and highly addictive. What resulted was a commercial triumph and a public health tragedy. Belated efforts to rein in distribution fueled a resurgence of heroin and the emergence of a deadly, black market version of the synthetic opioid fentanyl. The crisis is so deep because it affects all races, regions and incomes

Investigators refused to divulge the names of the labs. According to the report, the US Postal Service has failed to widely deploy a system to capture “advanced electronic data” about packages destined for American ports, which would help identify suspicious mail to be turned over to US Customs and Border Protection agents.

Staff of the permanent investigations subcommittee said they focused on six “very responsive” providers in China, out of hundreds of pages of websites offering fentanyl for sale.

The result was the identification of 500 online transactions involving fentanyl, mainly in powder form, with a street value of about $766m.

US fatalities linked to opioids including fentanyl have been rising dramatically and totaled more than 42,000 in 2016, according to government data.

Online sales from China tracked by the Senate investigators were linked to seven confirmed synthetic opioid-related deaths in the US, they said.

The investigation was overseen by Senator Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio and the subcommittee chairman, and Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, the panel’s senior Democrat.

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Investigators said the Chinese sellers were eager to ship the fentanyl using Express Mail Service, which operates worldwide through each country’s postal operations, including the US Postal Service.

Surcharges are applied, the investigators said, for customers demanding shipment through private delivery services, such as FedEx, DHL and United Parcel Service, because of the greater likelihood the goods would be seized.

The Senate investigation concluded that the US Postal Service received advanced electronic data on 36% of all international packages, meaning about 318m parcels last year were not monitored.

“We now know the depth to which drug traffickers exploit our mail system to ship fentanyl and other synthetic drugs into the United States,” Portman said in a statement.