Fentanyl Express

Read our Pulitzer-winning investigation.

Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now. One Essential Read One Essential Read Recommended by Marla Dickerson, Spot Enterprise Editor The global fentanyl trade behind America's opioid crisis   Reuters wins Pulitzer for fentanyl investigation. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo A decade into America's deadly fentanyl crisis, the supply chain fueling the narcotic's production has grown into a ruthlessly efficient global trade, but one that was almost a complete black box. Reuters penetrated this clandestine industry to show how astonishingly cheap and easy it is for drug cartels to obtain fentanyl-making chemicals – by buying and testing the chemicals itself. The resulting series, "Fentanyl Express," exposes how and why the US government has failed to stem the flow of these chemicals. It also shows how Washington's own trade policies turned the United States into a major transshipment hub for Chinese fentanyl chemicals bound for Mexico, stoking an overdose death toll approaching 450,000 American lives. On Monday, Fentanyl Express was awarded a 2025 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. It was the first-ever win for Reuters in that Pulitzer category and a recognition of the tireless efforts of our journalists to shed light on one of the most pressing issues of our time. The series was reported by Maurice Tamman, Laura Gottesdiener, Stephen Eisenhammer, Drazen Jorgic, Daisy Chung, Kristina Cooke, Michael Martina, Antoni Slodkowski and Shannon Stapleton. It was edited by me and visual editor Feilding Cage. Read the full series Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website Reuters One Essential Read is sent three days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you've engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions © 2025 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036