Synthetic drugs remain the DEA’s top concern, the agency stated in its latest National Drug Threat Assessment, outlining several key trends shaping this illicit economy.
Most notably, drug overdose deaths are falling, which the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) attributes to a drop in fentanyl purity.
The report claims some Mexico-based producers are reportedly struggling to access the precursor chemicals needed to make high-grade fentanyl. The US government agency has found that this mix is rarely found in pills, which tend to be cheap, weak, and often consumed in large quantities, likely because xylazine would sedate users before they could take or buy more, reducing profits.
SEE ALSO: How Fentanyl Producers in Mexico Are Adapting to a Challenging Market
Seizure data also hints at a broader slowdown in production. In 2024, US authorities confiscated nearly 30% less fentanyl and significantly fewer counterfeit fentanyl pills than the year before, according to the DEA.
But a growing share of fentanyl powder samples are laced with xylazine, a powerful sedative that makes overdoses harder to reverse. InSight Crime has found that this mix is rarely found in pills, which tend to be cheap, weak, and often consumed in large quantities, likely because xylazine would sedate users before they could take or buy more, reducing profits.
Meanwhile, methamphetamine is evolving in a different direction. The purity of seized meth reached nearly 97% in 2025, though purity levels have hovered in the high nineties since 2016. And while the total volume of meth seized has dropped, the number of meth pills has increased, according to the DEA report. This tactic could be used in an attempt to attract new users, including partygoers and casual consumers, as has happened with rainbow-colored fentanyl pills, InSight Crime reported in 2022.
The DEA also flagged concerns about “tusi,” the pink powder popular in nightclub scenes across Latin America. The agency mentions the possible involvement of the Sinaloa Cartel in tusi trafficking to the US. But the real picture is murkier: tusi production is typically local and unsophisticated, and its ties to major cartels remain poorly understood, as InSight Crime reported earlier this year.
SEE ALSO: DEA’s Emphasis on Defeating Cartels Oversimplifies Fentanyl Industry
Cocaine remains another priority for the DEA. Although Colombia is still the dominant supplier to the United States, the amount of seized cocaine originating from there dropped slightly last year, from 88% to 84%. While Colombia remains the primary source, the dip may suggest rising production in other hotspots like Peru or Bolivia. Coca cultivation enclaves have also emerged in Honduras, Guatemala, and even Mexico, although the report did not specifically mention increases from other regions.
Beyond drugs, the report spotlights a growing source of criminal revenue: stolen oil or “huachicol” as it is commonly known in Mexico. US authorities are investigating a Mexican criminal network for smuggling crude oil across the Texas border under the guise of hazardous waste. Once inside the US, the oil is passed through front companies, laundered into the legal market, and sold at discounted prices. The profits are then sent back to Mexico. Members of the fuel theft network were identified by the DEA as high-ranking members of some of Mexico’s largest criminal groups, including the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG), the Sinaloa Cartel, and the Familia Michoacana, some of the region’s most powerful drug trafficking syndicates.
Oil theft has long been a revenue stream for organized crime. But the recent scheme, coupled with US Treasury Department sanctions against affiliated individuals, suggests a new level of sophistication in how criminal groups are exploiting it for money laundering purposes.
Featured Image: A DEA employee holds a bag of fentanyl seized during a drug raid. Credit: Cliff Owen / AP