Our researchers continue to provide authoritative analysis on how criminal groups in Latin America produce, traffic, and sell synthetic drugs. Fentanyl, a highly addictive synthetic opioid, killed more than 70,000 people in the United States in 2023, and criminal groups including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) use Mexico as a key production and trafficking hub for the drug.
This week, lead investigator Victoria Dittmar spoke to Deutsche Welle about the illegal fentanyl trade and what can be done to curb the synthetic drugs crisis. Our precursor investigative series explores how synthetic drugs are made, which criminal groups operate in the illegal fentanyl market, and why government policies have so far largely failed to tackle the synthetic drugs boom.
Read the latest chapter of our precursor investigation >
Read the full report >