Editorial: Elizabeth Warren has right idea – go after fentanyl’s crypto ties

It was no coincidence that an alleged meth and fentanyl kingpin was arrested and charged Wednesday, the day after Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn called for a new plan to deal with the resurgence of the Mass and Cass drug market.

You can’t have addicts without drugs, and efforts to clear open-air drug markets are bound to be short-lived as long as the suppliers are working.

As Gayla Cawley reported in the Herald, Flynn’s hearing order stated: “There is an urgent need to reevaluate the current strategies in addressing the public safety, quality of life, neighborhood services, and public health issues related to the situation in Mass and Cass and in the impacted neighborhood of South End, Roxbury, Dorchester and South Boston.”

“We need to identify ways to improve the city’s response to the opioid crisis, drug-dealing activities, and homelessness,” Flynn wrote.

The Boston Police Department’s Drug Control unit has been doing a terrific job of arresting and charging people with drug trafficking, selling, and possessing firearms and ammo. We need more officers.

But that’s half the solution. Getting addicts off the streets and arresting dealers won’t ultimately take down the opioid crisis in Boston and the country.

For that, you have to follow the money.

As Flint McColgan reported,  Schuyler Oppenheimer. of Cambridge,  allegedly conducted illicit trade with Chinese suppliers under the name “Michael Sylvain.” He was arrested last week and charged in federal court in Boston with possession of 500 grams and more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and two counts of wire fraud. This followed an investigation which indicated he could have produced millions of counterfeit pills — partially funded through Paycheck Protection Program loan fraud.

There’s a lot to unpack here, but a key takeaway is Oppenheimer’s alleged work with Chinese traders.

According to a DEA report, China is the primary source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked through international mail…as well as the main source for all fentanyl-related substances trafficked into the United States.

In February, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas met with People’s Republic of China State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong in Vienna, to boost cooperation with the PRC to fight against fentanyl. Discussions were held, commitments were made, and the fentanyl continues to flow.

Senator Elizabeth Warren isn’t having it.

At a January hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Warren called for action to address crypto’s role in facilitating the illicit fentanyl trade.

“Crypto plays a role at every stage in the illicit fentanyl trade,” Warren said. “Chinese companies sell the chemical ingredients used to make fentanyl to drug cartels and they get paid in crypto. The drug cartels and the traffickers sell their deadly drugs in the darkest marketplaces, and they get paid in crypto.”

Warren’s bipartisan Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act aims to close loopholes in U.S. anti-money laundering rules to crack down on crypto’s use by drug traffickers and other bad actors.

The bill hasn’t moved since the January hearing. The victims of fentanyl and their families need action now.