China and Mexico are the leading players in a robust and sophisticated global financial system supporting the fentanyl trade, the US Treasury Department claimed Wednesday in a report on bank secrecy that could provide more ammunition as Washington targets Beijing in a potentially devastating trade war.
The picture that develops โ from the compilation of filings that banks are required to submit on potentially shady transactions โ includes a resilient and shadowy network of wire transfers, social media marketing, casinos, cash transactions, money laundering, e-commerce, call centres and illegal online pharmacies, all to finance the deadly opioid trade.
โHong Kong-based companies were often reported in conjunction with [mainland]-based subjects conducting similar financial activity or operating within the same financial networks,โ the report said.
โIn some instances, Hong Kong-based entities were identified as branches or subsidiaries.โ
While little in the report is groundbreaking, its release comes less than three months into a second Donald Trump administration that cited fentanyl trafficking as justification for tariffs it placed on China, Mexico and Canada.