Latin American Synthetic Drug Consumption Remains Modest: UNODC
The production of synthetic drugs has increased worldwide, but consumer markets in Latin America and the Caribbean remain small-scale, according…
What Is Behind Wave of Homicides in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico?
A rise in migrant smuggling and synthetic drug trafficking could explain a recent spike in homicides in Ciudad Juárez, a…
3 Takeaways From the Mexico Peace Index 2023
Organized crime groups are increasingly driving violence in Mexico’s worst affected areas, a new report has revealed. Murders related to…
Mexico’s Laws to Regulate Chemicals Work on Paper But Not in Practice
Since Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office in 2018, his morning press conferences have been a way for…
Chemists and ‘Cooks’: How Fentanyl Kills
Juan Manuel Delgado Cárdenas was months away from completing his studies in pharmaceutical chemistry and biology at the Autonomous University…
Brokers, More Than Mexico’s ‘Cartels,’ Key to Precursor Flow
Jerónimo** arrived at the restaurant wearing a rooster cap, a black T-shirt, and denim pants. A semi-automatic pistol was holstered…
How Fentanyl is Synthesized in Mexico
In 2018, US and Mexican authorities began tracking several chemists working for the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico that were trying…
Making Synthetic Drugs: A Primer*
The process of making synthetic drugs involves various steps, but it must include a key ingredient called a precursor. For…
5 Takeaways From US Indictments of Chapitos, Associates
US prosecutors have taken aim at one of Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking enterprises, the Chapitos, in a series of…
Are Fentanyl Trafficking Routes Shifting on the US-Mexico Border?
Over the last eight months, US officials have seized more illicit fentanyl at Arizona’s ports of entry than anywhere else…