the article explains, unlike opoids where manufacturers are hindered by the poppy growing/producing season, fentanyl is synthetic and the components are dirt-cheap.
Heresay from a hispanic neighbor and headlines from the WSJ and NPR: Mexican Sinaloa Cartel’s Message to Members: Stop Making Fentanyl or Die “ - the CULIACÁN-based cartel has issued death notices for anyone in their territory caught manufacturing - too many customers dying. According to the neighbor, the message was texted to everyone’s phone. This doesn’t mean all cartels have stopped or that Mexico is the sole source. In 2023, China said it would ban shipping fentanyl precursor ingredients, but a NPR April 2024 article, Report: China continues to subsidize deadly fentanyl exports, claims “...companies making fentanyl precursors and analogues could [still] apply for state tax rebates and other financial benefits after exporting the product.”
According to addictiongroup.com, Most likely to die from overdose are Native Alaskans/Indigenous Natives, urban black youth 15-24, and over 65, followed by hispanic, then white. So it looks like the more segregated/isolated/closed-off/poverty-ridden the community, the higher the incidence of sale and fatality (+250 thousand in the last 10 years)