Synthetic drugs: the deadly cocktail of chemicals that infected central, western and northern Mexico

The manufacture of synthetic drugs is increasingly common in the north-central area of Mexico. These are the findings of data from the federal government, which detected a considerable number of drug laboratories in the states of Sinaloa (54); Michoacán (19); Jalisco (14) and Durango (13).

So far in Andrés Manuel López Obrador's six-year term, the Ministry of National Defense has seized 127 opioid “kitchens”, most of them on the grounds of the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) cartels. According to reports, these insurances have affected criminal groups of more than 7 billion pesos.

Precursors for drug processing arrive through Mexico's port areas from Asia. In the case of Michoacán, for example, chemicals arrive through the Lazaro Cardenas port, which has been a point of dispute between the CJNG and local criminal groups.

Not far from the region, six hours 40 minutes, driving through gaps, loose soil and “duney” terrain, is the entity of Jalisco governed by Enrique Alfaro, where 14 drug laboratories have been located.

The jalisco entity is known as the base of operations of the CJNG. Only on 31 March, a laboratory and an arsenal of weapons, allegedly belonging to this cartel, were confiscated in that region.

The first action took place in the municipality of Mixtlán, where ethyl alcohol, toluene, lead acetate, among other hazardous substances were detected. Meanwhile, in Cabo Corrientes, a vehicle was found with long guns, magazines of various calibers and cartridges.

In the government of López Obrador, the most hit criminal organization has been the Sinaloa Cartel, known as the largest supplier of synthetic drugs from the neighbor to the north, USA.

The last slap against the cartel occurred in a rural area of Culiacán (capital of Sinaloa). The operation came after a complaint alerting a strong smell of chemicals.

Containers were found in the area and placed at the disposal of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic.

The land for the “kitchens” is usually chamizo, earthy and located between mountains, to camouflage with the physical conditions of the area, and thus not be detected with drones or other types of aerial vehicles.

Durango, the fourth state on the list of confiscated drug laboratories in Mexico, has long been identified as ground zero of the confrontation between Los Zetas and the Cartel of Sinaloa. There, in 2009, the largest drug laboratory belonging to the Sinaloa organization was confiscated. The facilities had kitchens, bedrooms, cellars, and a luxury cabin where the head of the plaza was hiding.

Trafficking in opiates has been one of the high points on the bilateral agenda between the US and Mexico, with strictly defined roles: the south is supply and the north is demand.

The latest national report on the state of drugs by the US government warns that opioid deaths in the United States have increased dramatically in recent years. In 2016, the number of deaths related to this type of narcotic drugs was 19,413, but by 2017 it increased to 28,466 cases.

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