Congressional report: US Postal Service delivers fentanyl to U.S. for drug traffickers

A stunning bipartisan report on the opioid epidemic published yesterday by Delaware Senator Tom Carper and Ohio Senator Rob Portman. Both members of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which just conducted a year long investigation into how international drug traffickers get synthetic opioids like fentanyl from China into the United States.

The findings: Fentanyl sellers in China openly operate on the internet, and their preferred method of shipment is through the US Postal Service, because it is less likely to be stopped at customs thanks to an overwhelmed and underequipped Post Office.

The investigation also revealed around 500 transactions that brought over $766 million worth of fentanyl into the US; the subcommittee identified numerous drug distribution networks, and uncovered at least 7 over dose deaths linked to online fentanyl sales.