Mexico is not the only source of fentanyl, its president said Tuesday at a press conference for the country's anti-drug campaign, just weeks after threats from President-elect Donald Trump to impose taxes on the drug trade.
“Until now, we have not found that precursors are arriving, because most of the precursors come from Asia, and the whole process is done here in Mexico,” said President Claudia Sheinbaum. “The laboratories that have been dismantled in our country are mostly for methamphetamine or crystal (meth).”
Sheinbaum emphasized that her government was committed to combating the distribution of illegal drugs. In recent weeks, Mexican authorities have announced several major seizures of fentanyl – a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin – as well as chemical precursors. Officials said last month that the seizure of more than a ton of fentanyl pills largest in the country's history.
At the press conference, Sheinbaum said that while there are concerns about fentanyl in Mexico, the problem is not as widespread as it is in the United States where it has been linked to tens of thousands of overdose deaths. .
Trump, who begins his second term January 20ththat he plans to raise tariffs of 25% on Mexican exports if the country does not contain the flow of drugs and migrants.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration says Mexican cartels are “at the heart” of the synthetic narcotics crisis in the United States.
The powerful Sinaloa Cartel “dominates the fentanyl market through the manipulation of the global supply chain and the proliferation of clandestine fentanyl laboratories in Mexico,” it said in its 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment.
The cartel has been “producing large quantities of fentanyl since at least 2012,” the DEA said.
The US ambassador, Ken Salazar, said at a press conference on Monday that he had no doubt that the drug was made in Mexico.
“I know what is happening, that there is fentanyl in Mexico, and I also know that it is produced here,” he said.
In an interview in 2024 with “60 Minutes,” the former president of Mexico Andrés Manuel López he picked up on Sheinbaum's stance.
“Fentanyl is produced in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. And the chemical precursors come from Asia,” said Manuel López.
