As nearly 200 Americans die daily from fentanyl overdoses, President Joe Biden sent Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to Mexico this week to tackle the crisis.

The deadly synthetic opioid continues to pour across the Democrat’s open border and bring destruction to local communities. It is now the number one killer of U.S. adults aged 18-45, and still the border remains unprotected.

Just how deadly is fentanyl? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 71,000 Americans died from overdoses of the opioid in 2021. That’s more than ten times the overdose tally of 1988 — the height of the crack cocaine epidemic. 

Yellen is expected to sit with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Secretary of Finance and Public Credit Rogelio Ramirez de la O. She will also break bread with business leaders and work on expanding trade with the southern neighbor.

The Treasury Department even boasts a new “strike force” to combat fentanyl trafficking.

Janet Yellen to visit Mexico for talks on boosting trade, fighting fentanyl trafficking https://t.co/MVnxzlr4jg pic.twitter.com/L64gRz37eX

— The Hill (@thehill) December 4, 2023

On Monday, Treasury announced the formation of the “Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force.” The expressed goal is to utilize financial avenues to tear down the infrastructure of the international drug trade. 

A Biden administration official announced the group “will conduct joint analyses of the financial flows of fentanyl trafficking networks, we’ll strengthen operational coordination of both civil and criminal investigations.”

The group is to share intelligence between local and federal law enforcement on the synthetic opioid trade. 

The Drug Enforcement Agency reported that China and Mexico are the two largest suppliers of finished fentanyl and the ingredients that go into its manufacture.

Talks were recently held with Chinese officials on enhancing efforts to stem the tide of precursor chemicals exported from China to Mexico. In San Francisco last month, Biden and Xi announced that Beijing is telling its chemical companies to cut back on exports of fentanyl ingredients.

Now, in Mexico City, the Biden administration will attempt to impede the financing that makes the illicit international trade possible.

The U.S. and Mexico engage in the largest trade network between two countries on the globe. While most of it is legitimate, a large segment is both illegal and deadly. 

Yellen is tasked with propping up legal commerce while taking steps to counter the illegitimate side.

She is a proponent of “friendshoring,” which is working toward industrial and business policies across the continent for mutual benefit.