“Char” for Borderland Beat
This article was translated and reposted from EL UNIVERSAL
WRITTEN BY: DANIELA WACHAUF AND MANUEL ESPINO
JULY 4, 2024
Elements of the Secretary of the Navy and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) dismantled a cell of the Sinaloa Cartel faction headed by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and his son Ismael Zambada Sicairos, “El Mayito Flaco”, dedicated to the production of fentanyl pills for shipment to the United States.
As a result of naval intelligence work and the FGR’s Criminal Investigation Agency, eight search warrants were executed simultaneously and nine alleged offenders were arrested in the municipality of Culiacán Rosales, Sinaloa.
This resulted in the seizure of documentation, cash in local and foreign currency, controlled chemical substances and precursors stored in drums, flasks and bottles containing transparent liquids used for the manufacture of synthetic drugs; solid substances, both white and crystalline, with characteristics of methamphetamine; and blue pills marked with the legend M30, possibly fentanyl.
In addition, various equipment and machinery were seized, including tabletting machines, industrial mixers and packaging machines, as well as various materials for handling chemical substances.
Taking into account the investigative actions, it is presumed that at least the seized tabletting machine was in operation during the period from May 1 to June 30, during which time it could have produced around six million 700 thousand tablets, whose approximate value would be 1,700 million pesos, which at the current exchange rate is equivalent to more than 92 million dollars.
In addition, high-end vehicles, various firearms, fragmentation grenades, as well as ballistic material and telecommunication equipment, among other items, were found, and six properties linked to these alleged criminal activities were seized.
The properties and objects seized were placed at the disposal of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, which continues with the integration of the investigation file for the crimes mentioned above.
The chemical substances, controlled precursors, pills, and possible narcotics are in the process of chemical profiling for their forensic determination.
The nine people arrested were charged and remanded in custody as a precautionary measure, for which they will be held in social reintegration centers located in Aguaruto and Guasave.
According to federal authorities, the criminal cell operated under the command of the Sinaloa Cartel faction led by “El Mayo” Zambada and his son “Mayito Flaco”, with operations in Sinaloa, Sonora, Jalisco, Baja California, and Nayarit.
At the international level, they had partners in China who supplied chemical substances for the production of fentanyl, as well as in the United States, the market to which they sent the finished product.
For the security cabinet, this operation confirms that fentanyl is not only imported from China, but that the synthesis of this drug is also carried out in national territory.
FOLLOW-UP BY: CHAR
