Mexico is not the only supply of fentanyl, its president mentioned Tuesday at a information convention for the nation’s anti-drug marketing campaign, simply weeks after threats from President-elect Donald Trump to impose tariffs over drug trafficking.
“So far, we have now not discovered that precursors arrive, as a result of a lot of the precursors come from Asia, and that the entire course of is manufactured right here in Mexico,” President Claudia Sheinbaum mentioned. “The laboratories which were dismantled in our nation are primarily for methamphetamine or crystal (meth).”
Sheinbaum confused that her authorities was dedicated to combating unlawful drug distribution. In current weeks, Mexican authorities have introduced a number of main seizures of fentanyl — an artificial opioid 50 occasions stronger than heroin — in addition to chemical precursors. Officials mentioned final month that the seizure of over a ton of fentanyl drugs was the biggest in the country’s history.
At the information convention, Sheinbaum mentioned that whereas there are issues about fentanyl in Mexico, the issue is not as widespread as it’s within the United States the place it has been linked to tens of 1000’s of overdose deaths.
Trump, who will start his second time period on Jan. 20, mentioned he intends to levy 25% tariffs on Mexican exports if the nation fails to comprise flows of medication and migrants.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that Mexican cartels are “on the coronary heart” of an artificial narcotics disaster within the United States.
The highly effective Sinaloa Cartel “dominates the fentanyl market by its manipulation of the worldwide provide chain and the proliferation of clandestine fentanyl labs in Mexico,” it mentioned in its 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment.
The cartel has been “producing bulk portions of fentanyl since not less than 2012,” the DEA mentioned.
Outgoing U.S. ambassador Ken Salazar mentioned at a information convention on Monday that he had little question the drug was manufactured in Mexico.
“I do know what’s taking place, that there’s fentanyl in Mexico, and I additionally know that it’s produced right here,” he mentioned.
In a 2024 interview with “60 Minutes,” Mexico former president Andrés Manuel López echoed Sheinbaum’s stance.
“Fentanyl is produced within the United States, in Canada, and in Mexico. And the chemical precursors come from Asia,” Manuel López mentioned.
