Vast amounts of fentanyl have been flooding into the United States from the so-called "Golden Triangle" in Southeast Asia, which has been producing heroin for m

Vast amounts of fentanyl have been flooding into the United States from the so-called "Golden Triangle" in Southeast Asia, which has been producing heroin for many decades. Fentanyl is a synthetic drug with a much simpler structure than morphine or heroin. It is also 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. The former heroin producers in that region have noted that a) because it's synthetic you don't need any gigantic and easy-to-spot opium poppy fields and b) being 50 times more powerful makes it far easier to smuggle than an equivalent amount of heroin would be.