May 5 (Reuters) - 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 ( NYT ) 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.