Mexico has announced its largest-ever seizure of the synthetic opioid fentanyl as cross-border pressure on the country to crack down on drug trafficking to the United States mounts.
A statement On Wednesday, Omar García Herfuch, Mexico’s secretary of security and civil protection, said the shipment came after authorities took “two separate measures” in the coastal state of Sinaloa.
“In Sinaloa, the largest historical seizure of fentanyl was achieved,” explained García Horfuch, adding that “more than a ton of fentanyl pills” were intercepted.
Both were arrested and the guns seized. “These measures will continue until the violence in Sinaloa state subsides,” he said.
Separately, the Mexican government announced that it had detained more than 5,200 migrants and asylum seekers a day earlier, Tuesday, as they made their way to the US border.
Both moves could be seen as attempts to appease the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump in the US.
Trump has Threatened to strike a heavy one 25-percent duty on goods from Mexico and Canada across their shared borders with the US unless both countries take measures to curb drug trafficking and immigration.
Speaking to the Associated Press (AP) news agency, security analyst David Saucedo indicated on Wednesday that he believed Mexico’s efforts were the result of “pressure from Washington.”
“It’s clear that the Mexican government is managing the timing of fentanyl seizures,” Saucedo said.
“But under pressure from Donald Trump, President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration appears poised to arrest drug traffickers and increase drug seizures that Washington has demanded.”
For her part, Sheinbaum, who was inaugurated as Mexico’s president in October, made a long effort to manufacture fentanyl aura.
“This has been an ongoing investigation for some time, and yesterday it bore fruit,” he said on Wednesday.
Sheinbaum and Trump spoke last week about efforts to halt northward migration, though the two leaders emerged with different accounts of the conversation.
Trump wrote Social media Scheinbaum “agreed to halt immigration through Mexico and into the United States, effectively closing our southern border”.
However, Sheinbaum made it clear that he wanted to “not close borders but build bridges.” However, he confirmed that his government would prevent so-called migrant caravans – large groups of migrants who gather together for safety – from reaching the border.
Fentanyl, meanwhile, is the primary cause of overdose deaths in the US. 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, deaths linked to synthetic opioids rose more than 55 percent in the country, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found.
Trump’s incoming vice president, Senator JD Vance, spoke frequently about his own family’s experiences with addiction on the campaign trail as the Republican ticket sought the White House.
But Mexico government figures showed a drop in fentanyl seizures leading up to Wednesday’s announcement. In the first half of 2024, federal law enforcement in Mexico seized 130 kilograms, or 286 pounds, a 94 percent decrease from the amount seized a year earlier.
violence Also a factor in Sinaloa. Since the capture of Sinaloa cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in the US, rival factions have sought to fill the power vacuum left by his absence.
Speaking to the AP, Saucedo explained that officials need to address the root causes of the fentanyl trade to finally stop trafficking.
“It’s a pretty big seizure,” Saucedo said of Wednesday’s haul. “But if they don’t demolish the labs, this kind of production will continue.”
