Mica for BorderlandBeat.com
This morning, at a conference at the National Palace, General Luis Cresencio Sandoval – head of the Sedena – presented a video in which it was reported that 37 fentanyl pill manufacturing centers have been found.
“Based on the results obtained, it has been identified that in Mexico organized crime has implemented various methods for the production of methamphetamines and the manufacture of fentanyl pills.
“As far as manufacturing is concerned, there is evidence that criminal organizations acquire the chemical precursors of the last stage of that drug by virtue of the difficulty of being produced in a clandestine environment, with 37 fentanyl pill manufacturing centers found in Mexico during the present Administration, where only the last phase of the organic synthesis process is carried out to obtain fentanyl.
In March, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said in a statement that the Mexican security agencies have not detected the manufacture of fentanyl in national territory, which was later endorsed by the head of the North American unit of the Foreign Ministry, Roberto Velasco.
For López Obrador, the seized laboratories in Mexico only “snugget” pills containing fentanyl trafficked from Asia, mainly from China; however, the Chinese government denied that there was a trafficking of fentanyl from his country to Mexican territory, stating that it has never been notified.
Since 2014, the DEA has assured in its annual reports of the existence of illegal production of fentanyl in Mexico. Still, it was in 2021 that it warned of the involvement of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The video presented by the head of Sedena mentions that for the manufacture of fentanyl, organized crime installs cauline laboratories in urban areas where they have machines that allow them to encapsulate it.
“These places are facilities located, mainly in urban areas, with tables, machines, tableting machines and containers to mix the chemical precursor – known as ANPP – with a catalyst such as hydrochloric acid, a process that does not require facilities or specialized labor, obtaining fentanyl from which they only have to encapsulate it,” it was added.