Unpacking the challenges of the North American Fentanyl market.
The synthetic opioid crisis has reshaped the landscape of organized crime, public health, and security across North America. Drawing on the expert dialogue held in April 2025, this report explores cross-border dynamics, policy gaps, and recommendations to strengthen regional responses. It presents a timely and evidence-based overview of the evolving fentanyl market in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Fentanyl is not just a North American issue – it is part of a global shift in synthetic drug production . The report challenges traditional framing, highlighting how fentanyl is produced and consumed domestically within all three countries, often through integrated and illicitly adapted supply chains. These networks mimic legitimate logistics operations, exploiting regulatory and enforcement blind spots. Key insights reveal that unregulated fentanyl rarely appears in pure form. In Toronto, drug-checking services found high levels of contamination , with over 70% of sam...