The Liberal government has named Kevin Brosseau, a former senior Mountie, to be the federal point person on fighting the spread of deadly fentanyl.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Brosseau鈥檚 role as fentanyl czar will involve working closely with U.S. counterparts to accelerate Canada鈥檚 efforts to detect, disrupt and dismantle the illicit trade in the drug.

A statement Tuesday from the Prime Minister鈥檚 Office said Brosseau鈥檚 demonstrated expertise tackling drug trafficking, organized crime networks and other national security threats 鈥渨ill bring tremendous value to this position.鈥�

During his more than 20 years in the RCMP, Brosseau served as a deputy commissioner and the senior Mountie in Manitoba.

More recently, he was a senior official in the transport and fisheries departments before becoming deputy national security and intelligence adviser to the prime minister.

Brosseau joined the RCMP in 1988 and served in Williams Lake and Burnaby, B.C. from 1989 to 1998, as well as a number of locations in Yukon.

U.S. President Donald Trump recently threatened to impose steep tariffs on all goods from Canada, citing the southbound flow of migrants and illegal drugs including fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid.

After Trudeau explained details of Canada鈥檚 plans to beef up the border, Trump agreed to a month-long pause on the tariffs while the two work on a new economic arrangement.

The statement Tuesday said while less than one per cent of the fentanyl intercepted at the U.S. border comes from Canada, 鈥渁ny amount of fentanyl is too much.鈥�

鈥淔entanyl is a lethal drug that has torn apart communities and families across Canada and the United States,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淭he scourge of fentanyl must be wiped from the face of the Earth, its production must be shut down, and its profiteers must be punished.鈥�

Ottawa outlined a $1.3-billion plan in December to bolster security and surveillance at the Canada-U.S. border.

It recently announced additional plans to appoint the fentanyl czar and to list organized crime cartels as terrorist organizations.