China denies fentanyl trafficking with Mexico; blames US

MEXICO CITY (AP) — China’s government has denied that there is any illegal fentanyl trafficking with Mexico and said it had not been notified by Mexico’s government of any seizures of the precursor chemicals used to make the powerful drug. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning made the comments Thursday in response to a question about a plea from Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador this week that China help stop chemicals used by Mexican drug traffickers to produce fentanyl. Similar to López Obrador’s comments in recent weeks, Mao placed the blame for the tens of thousands of fentanyl overdose deaths in the United States on that country.