LIVE: Attorney General Garland Press Conference on Fighting Fentanyl

Garland: We are announcing several enforcement actions the Justice Department has taken to disrupt the flow of Fentanyl precursor chemicals from China to Mexico, and the United States…we have charged, for the first time ever, four chemical companies based in China, and eight Chinese nationals, for the trafficking of Fentanyl precursor chemicals into the United States.

Garland: These companies went a step further…they added what are known as masking molecules to their Fentanyl precursor chemicals. Once these masking molecules are added, the chemical signature of the precursor is changed. That means when it's shipped, it appears to be a new, non-Fentanyl, precursor substance. Upon receipt…the purchaser is able to easily able to remove the masking molecules, and return the chemical to it's original form as a Fentanyl precursor.

Milgram [DEA Administrator]: The two drug cartels that are responsible for the influx of Fentanyl into the United States, the Sinaloa, and Jalisco cartels, work with chemical companies based in the People's Republic of China to get their raw materials.

Milgram: A defendant sold two kilograms of Fentanyl precursors for approximately one thousand US dollars….can yield 1.75 million lethal doses of Fentanyl…the price per lethal dose is less than one cent.

Garland: I don't know how it would be possible for anybody to block him [US Attorney Weiss/Biden case] from bringing a prosecution, given that he has this authority.

Garland: I certainly understand that some have chosen to attack the integrity of the Justice Department…by claiming we do not treat like cases alike. This constitutes an attack on an institution that is essential to American democracy, and essential to the safety of the American people. Nothing can be further from the truth.