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Mexico announces largest fentanyl seizure in its history. The timing may not be a coincidence.

Mexican soldiers and marines seized a ton of fentanyl pills in two raids in the north, and officials called it the largest seizure of the synthetic opioid in the country's history.

The raid comes after a major drop in fentanyl seizures in Mexico earlier this year, and days after US President-elect Donald Trump. they are threatening to impose tariffs of 25%. in products from Canada again in Mexico unless those countries cut off the flow of migrants and drugs across the border.

Experts say this time may not happen by chance.

“It's clear that the Mexican government has been controlling the timing of fentanyl seizures,” said security analyst David Saucedo. “But under pressure from Donald Trump, it appears that the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum is willing to increase the arrests of drug traffickers and drug seizures that Washington wants.”

Saucedo said it is clear that the Mexican government “does not see fentanyl as one of its problems, and fighting it is not a priority,” adding that there will only be big busts “when there is pressure from Washington.”

Mexico's top security official said soldiers and marines spotted two men with guns in northern Sinaloa state, which is home to drug cartels of the same name.

They chased the men and entered two houses. In one house the soldiers found about 660 kilograms of fentanyl, and in another truck that was filled with about 1,750 kilograms of the drug, mostly in the form of pills.

“In Sinaloa, we have achieved the biggest shock in the history of fentanyl,” Public Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch wrote on his social media accounts. Many guns were also taken and two men were arrested.

Mexican authorities seize fentanyl
The contents of a vehicle are shown after Mexican authorities conducted a joint operation, seizing fentanyl, at an unknown location, in this social media photo released on Dec. 4, 2024.

Omar H Garcia Harfuch via Reuters


President Sheinbaum said Wednesday “this is an investigation that has been going on for some time, and yesterday it bore fruit.”

But that claim contradicts the apparently random nature, which began when the military “observed the presence of two men carrying what appeared to be guns.”

In the past, Mexican security forces have sometimes used the issue of following armed men running into homes as an excuse to enter homes without search warrants. In at least one case, the government's version has been contradicted by security camera footage.

The latest move was surprising because fentanyl seizures in Mexico fell sharply in the first half of the year. At times during the summer, under former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the state military reported seizures of less than 50 grams (two ounces) per week.

Statistics for the first half of 2024 show that Mexican forces seized only 286 pounds (130 kilograms) of fentanyl nationwide between January and June, down 94% from the 5,135 pounds (2,329 kilograms) seized in 2023.

Synthetic opioids are blamed for the deaths of more than 70,000 people a year in the United States, and US officials have tried to increase efforts to catch them as they come over the border, often in the form of counterfeit pills made in Mexico from former chemicals. imported from China.

As “60 Minutes” reportedThe fentanyl crisis began 10 years ago when cartels began to wrestle with control of the supply chain from China, buying pre-drug chemicals to make fentanyl from secret labs in Mexico. In 2019, China “organized,” or blocked, fentanyl from being shipped to the US, and strengthened the cartels' control over the pipeline.

López Obrador has always denied that fentanyl is even produced in Mexico, although experts – and even members of his administration – agree that it is.

And if Mexico doesn't go after those fentanyl production facilities, it will still be producing similar amounts in the future.

“It's a very big concussion,” Saucedo said. “But if they don't demolish the labs, this kind of production will continue.”

Also on Wednesday, the US State Department announced that it will increase the reward of the top leader of another cartel, Nemesio Oseguera, from $10 million to $15 million.

Oseguera, known by his nickname “El Mencho,” he leads the Jalisco cartel, which, like Sinaloa, is heavily involved in the production and distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamines.

Last month, the son-in-law of “El Mencho” was you are arrested in California and charged with drug trafficking. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa “faked his death and lied to avoid justice and live a life of luxury in California.”


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