Trump’s Foreign Aid Freeze Halts Key Anti-Fentanyl Efforts in Mexico

The funding freeze disrupts U.N.-led programs aimed at intercepting fentanyl precursors at Mexican ports, complicating U.S. efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

• The Trump administration's foreign aid freeze has stalled a U.N. counternarcotics program at Mexico's Port of Manzanillo, the nation’s busiest container port, designed to intercept fentanyl precursors.
• Plans to expand the program to two additional Mexican ports, Lázaro Cárdenas and Veracruz, have been put on hold due to the funding cutoff.
• The halted initiatives included training and equipment for Mexican authorities, such as cargo scanners and drug-testing tools, as well as support for dismantling clandestine fentanyl labs and providing drug-sniffing dogs.
• The freeze affects broader U.S. anti-narcotics efforts in Mexico, with only $7.8 million of the State Department's $50 million budget for such programs receiving waivers to continue.
• Experts warn that the disruption undermines efforts to combat the U.S. fentanyl overdose crisis, which has claimed over 450,000 lives in the past decade, as traffickers continue to exploit Mexican ports for smuggling.

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