The ongoing fentanyl crisis in America shows few signs of abating. Roughly 200 people per day, more than 75,000 Americans per year, lose their lives due to fentanyl use. But how do we stem the tide and reverse this trend? Examining the epidemic through an economic and financial lens helps us identify those who benefit from fentanyl production and distribution. In other words, we need to follow the money. Chinese underground money laundering networks and manufacturers of precursor chemicals ensure that criminal networks get paid and that chemicals flow to the Mexican cartels producing and distributing fentanyl. These illicit actors take huge profits and degrade American society in the process.

Ray Donovan is a 28-year veteran of the DEA, serving as its Head of Operations, and a leading voice helping us understand and expose the vast criminal and money-laundering networks that support the fentanyl trade and how we can counter China’s overt strategy to wage war on America through fentanyl.

Ray joined Coercive Capital host Elaine Dezenski for a deep dive on the networks that fuel the fentanyl crisis in the U.S.