Mexican soldiers and marines seized over a ton of fentanyl pills in two raids in the north, with officials calling it the biggest catch of the synthetic opioid in the country's history. The raids came after a sharp drop in fentanyl seizures in Mexico earlier this year, and days after US President-elect Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico unless those countries cracked down on the flow of migrants and drugs across the border. Experts say the timing may not be a coincidence, per the AP. "It is clear that the Mexican government has been managing the timing of fentanyl seizures," said security analyst David Saucedo. "But under the pressure by Donald Trump, it appears President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration is willing to ... increase the capture of drug traffickers and drug seizures that Washington is demanding."
Saucedo said it's clear the Mexican government "doesn't see fentanyl as one of its own problems, and fighting it isn't its priority." He added there would only be big busts "when there is pressure from Washington." Mexico's top security official said soldiers and marines late Tuesday spotted two men carrying guns in the northern state of Sinaloa, home to the drug cartel of the same name. They chased the men, who ran into two houses. In one house soldiers found about 660 pounds of fentanyl, and in the other a truck packed with about 1,750 pounds of the drug, mostly in pill form. "In Sinaloa, we achieved the biggest seizure in [the] history of fentanyl," public safety chief Omar Garcia Harfuch wrote on his social media accounts. Several guns were also seized and two men were arrested.
Sheinbaum said Wednesday, "This is an investigation that had been going on for some time, and yesterday it bore fruit." Ex-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador always denied that fentanyl is even produced in Mexico, though experts—and even members of his own administration—acknowledge it is. And if Mexico doesn't go after those fentanyl production facilities, then they'll still be churning out similar quantities in the future. "It's a very very big seizure," Saucedo said. "But if they don't dismantle the labs, this kind of production will continue."
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