4 ms·

“We’re shipping to the US” – inside China’s synthetic opioid networks (2020)

29 points by 737min 5y ago

Flatcircle 5y ago
This is one of the biggest stories of the last decade. The huge surge in homeless people and tent cities in the major metropolitans over the last few years will probably turn out to be due to a drug epidemic happening right before our eyes.
- 737min 5y ago
  It would be very interesting to understand this part of the story in more detail, although I expect it’s more complicated than the statement above. But someone should really research this properly.
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 5y ago
  This drug epidemic would not have occurred had xenophobes not been allowed to craft law and terrorize the public with fictional propaganda. These drug runners saw an opportunity and took it. It’s no different than what the sackler family did. Both are unjustifiable in civilized society. https://drugpolicy.org/issues/brief-history-drug-war https://drugpolicy.org/issues/brief-history-drug-war
- bellyfullofbac 5y ago
  Mixing cause and effect? Desperation (economic, social life, etc) leads to escapism, among them substance abuse, leading people to lose even more grasp of life and lose their homes? There's an epidemic of loneliness, I wonder why, is it people having FOMO due to social media, reality TV, etc?
vmception 5y ago
> It led to more than 37,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2019 Old article, should have (2020) in it as this is the number #1 cause in 2020 (Adults 18-45) Abstinence only education isn’t the solution
aurizon 5y ago
This deadly racket uses letters to send Fentanyl and more dangerous drugs to dealers in the USA. Pure Fentanyl has a lethal dose in the average male of 2 milligrams. This is a small quantity. 1 gram will dissolve in 40 milliliters of water. The drug sellers then wet paper with the solution, it takes a few sheets. Then they dry it and laser print data sheets for anything and you will have 1 gram spread evenly through the paper, might be any data at all, the object is to make it pass inspection after it is mailed as innocent data sheets. The USA buyer then washes the paper repeatedly with water - using repeated small amounts of distilled water. It might take 10-20 washes, one after the other, and it is then dissolved in the water. Then they have a solution they can evaporate to dryness, and they will recover almost 1 gram as a powder. With a laser printer very little black ink dissolves as particles, but if there are, it can be filtered before they dry it. If they use unsized and non glossy paper, and distilled water, the purity will remain and the final dry powder will remain potent. They then sell it. Since milligram doses are a nuisance, they often mix it with a powder - here is where the fatalities occur. It is very hard to make a uniform finely mixed powder. Drug companies have detailed procedures to mix fine powders with safety and uniformity, so they avoid any lumps. A lump can kill a person. Once they have their powder, perhaps they now have 1000 grams with a gram mixed in it - each gram of powder = 1/2 fatal dose. They then get a pill press and make 10,000 pills of 100 milligrams each = the same gram is now in pill form, with 1/20th of a fatal dose in each one. If the mix was well done and tightly pressed(the mixing powder will be chosen to make pills that are strongly bound as pills) they have an item they can sell, telling the buyer what is in each pill. All is well - unless there were a few lumps in the initial separation = a few dead buyers/customers/addicts etc. There are some Fentanyl derivatives that are 15 times as toxic = smaller lumps can kill. The first class mail path is the safest, but most time consuming mail method. Expresspost is faster, but it is inspected more closely. There are other bulk methods, as listed on the DEA website here. I am a retired chemist and the only way to deal with this on this side is rigorous inspection of the mails letter by letter with testers (which can be trained rats or other animals that can detect any drug odor - if at all possible). China clearly does not have the will to rigorously deal with this problem, but they do have the power - if they are persuaded it is in their best interest? https://www.dea.gov/galleries/drug-images/fentanyl https://www.dea.gov/galleries/drug-images/fentanyl There is more data in that website, poke around to see the dimensions of this threat.
qwertyuiop_ 5y ago
- throw_this_one 5y ago
  Pretty tough. And your guy Trump did 0 as well.
  - dang 5y ago
    Please do not take HN threads further into flamewar. It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- bognition 5y ago
  Can we keep the political smears off hacker news please? I’m all for hearing opposing points of view but name calling has no place here.
  - 737min 5y ago
    Which part do you feel is overly political? I thought the above technical description to be very interesting and relevant.
    - bognition 5y ago
      My comment was in response the the “Joe Brandon” comment not the original posting
- dang 5y ago
  Please don't post flamebait to HN. We ban accounts that do that. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
dsq 5y ago
Any country that encourages or at least turns a blind eye to criminal enterprises targeting its rivals is encouraging privateering and will eventually be hoist with its own petard.

29 points by 737min 5y ago

This is one of the biggest stories of the last decade. The huge surge in homeless people and tent cities in the major metropolitans over the last few years will probably turn out to be due to a drug epidemic happening right before our eyes.

737min 5y ago
It would be very interesting to understand this part of the story in more detail, although I expect it’s more complicated than the statement above. But someone should really research this properly.
Red_Leaves_Flyy 5y ago
This drug epidemic would not have occurred had xenophobes not been allowed to craft law and terrorize the public with fictional propaganda. These drug runners saw an opportunity and took it. It’s no different than what the sackler family did. Both are unjustifiable in civilized society. https://drugpolicy.org/issues/brief-history-drug-war https://drugpolicy.org/issues/brief-history-drug-war
bellyfullofbac 5y ago
Mixing cause and effect? Desperation (economic, social life, etc) leads to escapism, among them substance abuse, leading people to lose even more grasp of life and lose their homes? There's an epidemic of loneliness, I wonder why, is it people having FOMO due to social media, reality TV, etc?

vmception 5y ago

> It led to more than 37,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2019 Old article, should have (2020) in it as this is the number #1 cause in 2020 (Adults 18-45) Abstinence only education isn’t the solution

aurizon 5y ago

This deadly racket uses letters to send Fentanyl and more dangerous drugs to dealers in the USA. Pure Fentanyl has a lethal dose in the average male of 2 milligrams. This is a small quantity. 1 gram will dissolve in 40 milliliters of water. The drug sellers then wet paper with the solution, it takes a few sheets. Then they dry it and laser print data sheets for anything and you will have 1 gram spread evenly through the paper, might be any data at all, the object is to make it pass inspection after it is mailed as innocent data sheets. The USA buyer then washes the paper repeatedly with water - using repeated small amounts of distilled water. It might take 10-20 washes, one after the other, and it is then dissolved in the water. Then they have a solution they can evaporate to dryness, and they will recover almost 1 gram as a powder. With a laser printer very little black ink dissolves as particles, but if there are, it can be filtered before they dry it. If they use unsized and non glossy paper, and distilled water, the purity will remain and the final dry powder will remain potent. They then sell it. Since milligram doses are a nuisance, they often mix it with a powder - here is where the fatalities occur. It is very hard to make a uniform finely mixed powder. Drug companies have detailed procedures to mix fine powders with safety and uniformity, so they avoid any lumps. A lump can kill a person. Once they have their powder, perhaps they now have 1000 grams with a gram mixed in it - each gram of powder = 1/2 fatal dose. They then get a pill press and make 10,000 pills of 100 milligrams each = the same gram is now in pill form, with 1/20th of a fatal dose in each one. If the mix was well done and tightly pressed(the mixing powder will be chosen to make pills that are strongly bound as pills) they have an item they can sell, telling the buyer what is in each pill. All is well - unless there were a few lumps in the initial separation = a few dead buyers/customers/addicts etc. There are some Fentanyl derivatives that are 15 times as toxic = smaller lumps can kill. The first class mail path is the safest, but most time consuming mail method. Expresspost is faster, but it is inspected more closely. There are other bulk methods, as listed on the DEA website here. I am a retired chemist and the only way to deal with this on this side is rigorous inspection of the mails letter by letter with testers (which can be trained rats or other animals that can detect any drug odor - if at all possible). China clearly does not have the will to rigorously deal with this problem, but they do have the power - if they are persuaded it is in their best interest? https://www.dea.gov/galleries/drug-images/fentanyl https://www.dea.gov/galleries/drug-images/fentanyl There is more data in that website, poke around to see the dimensions of this threat.

qwertyuiop_ 5y ago

throw_this_one 5y ago
Pretty tough. And your guy Trump did 0 as well.
- dang 5y ago
  Please do not take HN threads further into flamewar. It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
bognition 5y ago
Can we keep the political smears off hacker news please? I’m all for hearing opposing points of view but name calling has no place here.
- 737min 5y ago
  Which part do you feel is overly political? I thought the above technical description to be very interesting and relevant.
  - bognition 5y ago
    My comment was in response the the “Joe Brandon” comment not the original posting
dang 5y ago
Please don't post flamebait to HN. We ban accounts that do that. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

dsq 5y ago

Any country that encourages or at least turns a blind eye to criminal enterprises targeting its rivals is encouraging privateering and will eventually be hoist with its own petard.