Reuters wins Pulitzer for fentanyl trade investigation; New York Times wins four prizes

Reuters won the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting on Monday for a series of stories that penetrated the international trade in the chemicals used to make fentanyl, the drug at the heart of a crisis that has killed some 450,000 Americans and counting.

The New York Times won four Pulitzer prizes and the New Yorker magazine won three in recognition of their coverage of major news stories such as the assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and the war in Gaza.

For their seven-part series, "Fentanyl Express," Reuters reporters purchased all the ingredients needed to produce fentanyl, revealing how the Chinese chemicals fueling America's synthetic opioid crisis are astonishingly cheap and easy to obtain – and why U.S. authorities are failing to stop the deadly trade.

For just $3,600, the team bought enough precursor chemicals and equipment to make at least $3 million worth of the drug. The Reuters reporters did not make fentanyl, had no intention to do so, and arranged for safe destruction of the chemicals and other materials they purchased.

The series revealed for the first time how the chemical supply chain works and exposed how and why the U.S. government has been unable to stem the flow despite major diplomatic and law-enforcement pushes by the Biden and first Trump administrations.

It was reported by Maurice Tamman, Laura Gottesdiener, Stephen Eisenhammer, Drazen Jorgic, Daisy Chung, Kristina Cooke, Michael Martina, Antoni Slodkowski and Shannon Stapleton.

Working from the U.S., Mexico, China and beyond, the team exposed how Chinese suppliers exploited a loophole in U.S. trade regulations known as the "de minimis" rule to sneak cheap chemicals past customs inspectors. That rule allowed for tariff-free shipments of parcels worth less than $800, leading to an explosion of imported packages from China in particular. The exemption was ended by the Trump administration last week for shipments from Chinese and Hong Kong sellers.

Other stories showed how Mexican chemical brokers facilitate the trade for that country's powerful drug cartels; how China is fending off U.S. efforts to crack down on the chemical trade; and how a fentanyl-overdose antidote called naloxone is saving thousands of American lives - but isn't ending the U.S. addiction epidemic.

"The 'Fentanyl Express' series is a testament to the power of investigative journalism to drive change and hold those in power accountable," said Alessandra Galloni, Reuters editor-in-chief. "I'm incredibly proud of the team for their dedication to telling this important story in unique, rich and personal detail."

This year's award was the sixth Pulitzer that Reuters has won for reporting, all since 2014, in addition to seven for photography, all since 2008. The prizes were established by newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer in 1917.