Is Mexico’s CJNG Pushing the Gulf Cartel from Tamaulipas?
The speculation regarding the latest mega-battle for control over Mexico’s underworld started with a two-minute video that first appeared on…
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…
Size and Scope of the Meth Industry in Mexico
Methamphetamine is the largest synthetic drug industry in the world and the most consumed stimulant in the United States, far…
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…
Precursors and Mexico’s Synthetic Drug Trade: Summary and Major Findings
Synthetic drugs have changed organized crime. As opposed to most legacy drugs — which rely on plants, harvests, favorable weather,…
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…
South America’s Cocaine Supply Boom Shows Up in European Wastewater Analysis
South America’s cocaine boom is feeding the growing consumption of the drug in Europe, the latest wastewater analysis of the…