How Canadian fentanyl smuggling to the U.S. really works and who’s behind it...

The truth is likely in the middle.

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We’ve been hearing since last November that fentanyl is a major problem for the Trump administration and Canada is the source of that problem. At the same time, we’ve been hearing from Canadian officials that we aren’t part of the problem at all and please don’t look at the news releases put out by our own RCMP about super labs being busted and huge amounts of precursors being seized.

Where is the truth?

As the old TV said, the truth is out there but it’s also likely somewhere in the middle.

I spoke with Professor Jonathan Caulkins about his examination of where fentanyl is seized and very little is seized near the Canadian border.

But…

Professor Caulkins also studies supply chains for organized crime and Canada plays a big role here in the global supply chains for fentanyl and a whole range of other drugs.

Enjoy listening…

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Official liner notes for the episode.

Between President Donald Trump claiming there’s a flood of fentanyl from Canada to the U.S., and people here insisting there’s almost none, the truth is elusive. A new American report gets to the bottom of what’s really going on, and its author, Jonathan Caulkins, talks to Brian about what he found. Specializing in crime systems, the professor from Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College breaks down how global supply chains run by criminal organizations moving from Mexico to China to Australia feed Canadian labs with precursor chemicals. And how much of the final made-in-Canada product actually ends up on America’s streets — including, unexpectedly, in Alaska.