Amid US pressure, Mexico announces largest fentanyl seizure in history | News about drugs

Mexico has announced its largest-ever seizure of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, amid growing cross-border pressure on the country to crack down on drug trafficking into the US.

In a notification On Wednesday, Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Civil Protection, Omar Garcia Harfuch, said the importation came after authorities carried out “two separate operations” in the coastal state of Sinaloa.

“The largest historical seizure of fentanyl was achieved in Sinaloa,” García Harfuh explained, saying that “more than a ton of fentanyl pills” were seized.

Two men were also arrested and firearms were confiscated. “These actions will continue until the violence in the state of Sinaloa subsides,” he said.

Separately, the Mexican government also said it had detained more than 5,200 migrants and asylum seekers on their way to the US border a day earlier, Tuesday.

Both actions are likely to be seen as efforts to appease the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump has threatened slap troublesome 25 percent tariff goods from Mexico and Canada unless both countries take steps to curb drug trafficking and immigration across their shared borders with the United States.

Speaking to The Associated Press (AP), security analyst David Saucedo said he believed Mexico’s Wednesday effort was the result of “pressure from Washington.”

“It is clear that the Mexican government has managed the timing of the fentanyl seizures,” Saucedo said.

“But under pressure from Donald Trump, it appears that President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration wants to (..) increase the arrests of drug traffickers and drug confiscations that Washington is demanding.”

For his part, Scheinbaum, who was inaugurated as Mexico’s president in October, saw the seizure of fentanyl as a long process.

“This is an investigation that has been going on for some time and it came to fruition yesterday,” she said Wednesday.

Sheinbaum and Trump spoke last week about efforts to stop migration to the north as well, although the two leaders gave different explanations for the talks.

Trump wrote below social media that Sheinbaum had “agreed to stop migration through Mexico and into the United States, effectively closing our southern border.”

Sheinbaum, however, explained that she wants “not to close borders, but to build bridges”. She did confirm, however, that her government would not allow so-called migrant caravans – large groups of migrants who come together for security purposes – from reaching the border.

Meanwhile, fentanyl is the leading cause of overdose deaths in the United States. The US Drug Enforcement Administration describes the synthetic opioid as “100 times more potent” than morphine.

In the 12-month period from 2020 to 2021, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the number of deaths linked to synthetic opioids in the country increased by more than 55 percent.

Trump’s new vice president, Senator J.D. Vance often talked about his family’s experience with addiction during the campaign as the Republican ticket sought the White House.

But Mexican government statistics showed a decline in fentanyl seizures until Wednesday’s announcement. In the first half of 2024, federal law enforcement in Mexico seized 130 kilograms, or 286 pounds, down 94% from a year earlier.

Violence Sinaloa is also a factor. Since the capture of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the ruler of the Sinaloa cartel, rival factions in the US have sought to fill the power vacuum left in his absence.

Speaking to the AP, Saucedo explained that authorities must ultimately address the root causes of the fentanyl trade in order to stop the trade.

“It’s a very big hit,” Saucedo said of Wednesday’s throw. “But if they don’t dismantle the labs, this kind of production will continue.”