Chapter 378
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Fentanyl
Just as the United States was locked in an endless war on drugs, the Korean government had been steadily paying attention to its own drug problem.
In particular, Korea's focus was on new synthetic drugs.
“The mainstream of drugs in the future won’t be traditional ones like cocaine, marijuana, or opium—it’ll be synthetics.”
Following directives from above, the Korean Narcotics Control Agency prioritized the management of synthetic drugs.
One of the drugs on their watchlist, which they had begun monitoring, was fentanyl, developed back in 1959.
“Fentanyl’s that old?”
You might think there wasn’t much of an issue given its age, but there was a reason for that.
“It was originally patented by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, so just anyone couldn’t get their hands on it.”
But that patent expired in 1981.
With the patent lifted, fentanyl became something anyone could mass-produce.
The Korean government added it to the managed list and ramped up oversight the moment the patent expired.
“If this spreads, it’ll be a real headache.”
To crack down on synthetic drugs, Korea poured resources not only into blocking domestic distribution but also into monitoring precursor materials.
As Korea kept such tight surveillance on fentanyl analogs, the drug dealers watching took note and became convinced of its potential.
“If Korea’s clamping down this hard, it must be one hell of a drug.”
They synthesized it in factories and discovered the actual production costs were dirt cheap.
“It’s highly addictive and low-cost. This is the ultimate drug, right?”
Once Mexican cartels confirmed the potential, they placed orders for fentanyl from factories in the Republic of China.
Why the Republic of China?
“Labor costs there are super cheap.”
On top of that, being surrounded by major industrial nations meant they could easily source chemical precursors.
The Republic of China was already in a pretty chaotic state, so no one was watching over fentanyl production.
“Crank it out. It’s all dollars.”
Since fentanyl turned into money the moment it was produced, dealers shipped it off to Mexico.
“What about Korea?”
Korea was a tough nut to crack.
Even getting a simple painkiller prescription was heavily monitored, let alone dealing drugs—the risks were enormous.
With the market in ruins, building a customer base was hard, and agencies like the intelligence service had a tight net.
It was smarter to target the U.S., where oversight was relatively laxer.
“But the U.S. has the NSA and DEA.”
True, but there were key differences between the U.S. and Korea.
“It’s a democracy there, while Korea’s a dictatorship—you have to factor that in.”
Korea could trample individual rights if needed.
No messing around with warrants or delays.
There were other differences too.
Korea had relatively low income inequality, so it didn’t have massive underclasses or slums like the U.S.
And the biggest one:
Korea had societal safeguards against drugs, but the U.S. didn’t.
Aware of these gaps, dealers preferred the U.S. over nearby Korea.
They shipped the drugs to Mexico, then supplied them across the border to the U.S.
Of course, the U.S. wasn’t just sitting idly by.
They were desperate in their own way, pouring effort into eradicating smuggling routes.
The navy and coast guard covered the seas, while border patrol and national guard walled off the land borders.
Even so, drugs kept flowing into the U.S.
“What do you do about tunnels?”
Block the tunnels, and they’d use semisubmersibles; block those, and they’d fly it in.
If that didn’t work, they hid it among legitimate goods.
“What if you block that too?”
“Smuggle it inside people.”
Pregnant women and others were roped in en masse for this.
“How the hell do you stop all that?”
From the U.S. perspective, it was mind-boggling.
While the U.S. government scrambled for solutions, cheap synthetic fentanyl began landing in the border areas.
Living up to its nickname as the ultimate drug, fentanyl boasted overwhelming addictiveness.
Before long, major gangs and cartels started mixing it into cocaine and such to keep their customers from defecting.
The U.S. didn’t even notice this new threat.
To them, drugs meant traditional ones like cocaine and marijuana, plus a bit of synthetics like crack and meth.
Of course, Korea—which had been watching fentanyl from the start—saw things differently.
“Fentanyl’s heading to Mexico?”
“That’s what our intel says.”
Pyongyang sensed the gravity the moment it heard fentanyl was spreading in the U.S.
‘If the cartels scale up by selling fentanyl to the U.S., they might eye our market next.’
To counter the fentanyl threat, Korea sent an official diplomatic note to the U.S.
“We’d like bilateral cooperation on the new drug fentanyl.”
The U.S. response to Korea’s note was icy.
“We don’t trust you.”
Washington figured it couldn’t join hands with Pyongyang.
Even though bilateral cooperation fell through due to the U.S. rejection, Washington wasn’t completely idle.
“Find out what this fentanyl the Koreans mentioned is.”
After some investigation, the U.S. confirmed that this new substance, fentanyl, was indeed crossing their borders.
“Figure out how dangerous fentanyl is.”
The FDA analyzed it on Washington’s orders.
The results were shocking.
“This is a drug so potent that even a slight change in dose can kill. It’s extremely dangerous.”
Sure, no drug is safe, but fentanyl was on another level.
The real danger was its addictiveness.
With potency 50 to 100 times that of morphine, once an addict touched fentanyl, they couldn’t escape.
The U.S. government was stunned by the report.
“Crazy.”
There was another shocking fact.
“Pharma companies were lobbying to sell this as a regular medicine?”
It was utterly insane.
“Why sell this as a regular drug? Are you dealers?”
“Hey, if it makes money, sell as much as you can—not just to critical patients.”
Classic mindset from the land of freedom and gold-ruled corporations.
“You lunatics. No matter what you pull, fentanyl analogs are off-limits now. Give it up.”
“We just blew a golden opportunity.”
The U.S. government slammed the door on any legal market for the drug.
But completely blocking illegal smuggling across the border was impossible.
“To stop this, we need to shut down the production factories in the Republic of China.”
The U.S. immediately leaned on the Republic of China.
“Unless you want aid cut off, shut down every factory we name.”
Under U.S. pressure, the Republic of China promptly closed the factories.
Innocent ones got swept up too.
“We’re innocent!”
Most of the shuttered factories were pharma plants producing essential local medicines.
Drug prices doubled as a result.
“Why’d medicine prices skyrocket?”
“Ah, the Americans forced factories to close, production dropped—what can we do?”
The Chinese grew bitterly resentful over the medicine crisis.
“Hey, we’ll supply the drugs. Problem solved.”
The U.S. shipped in massive quantities of meds, but they were way pricier than local Chinese stuff.
Korea didn’t miss the opening handed to it.
“Together in East Asian society, Korea stands with you.”
Pyongyang countered the U.S.-caused medicine shortage by flooding the market with cheap Korean drugs.
“Why’s Korean stuff cheaper than American?”
Simple reason.
“Lower shipping costs.”
This medicine supply incident temporarily flipped anti-American sentiment to anti-Korean in some quarters.
A steep price for the U.S. to pay.
‘At this rate, whatever influence we have left in the Republic of China will evaporate completely.’
The question was whether this hefty cost yielded results.
Shutting down fentanyl factories wasn’t enough to stop the dealers.
“Fentanyl? No need to make it in China. Just order the precursors.”
The dealers got smart this time.
Instead of producing fentanyl in factories, they imported precursors and synthesized it in Mexico.
This dodged Republic of China oversight and U.S. interference.
The U.S. grew fed up with this nasty new threat.
Unable to come up with a sharp counter, real estate mogul Donald Trump publicly proposed to the nation.
“How about building a wall along Mexico to block illegal immigrants and drugs?”
“A wall on the Mexico border?”
The U.S. government seriously considered it, but cost was the issue.
Blocking 3,145 km of border would cost tens of billions.
“Where’s that kind of money?”
If the budget allowed, they’d build it—but resources were finite.
World’s largest military, space program, electronics rebuild...
The U.S.’s once-overflowing wealth had long hit rock bottom.
“No choice. We’ll have to mimic Korean policies.”
To stem the white powder choking them, the U.S. began copying Korea’s drug policies.
The shock from America’s mimicry rippled worldwide.
“America copying Korea’s drug policy? That ruthless system ignoring personal rights?”
Despite the outrage, it became clearer by the day that Washington was aping Pyongyang’s approach.
If America once touted its institutional superiority via the space race win, Korea’s success in the drug war was proof enough of the “dictatorship’s” edge.
“If Korean-style democracy protects citizens better, free democracy might not be the answer.”
For the first time, Americans began doubting the free democratic system they’d built.