Here’s how SEP will act to fight fentanyl use in Mexico

While President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) indicated that his government would conduct a meeting with representatives of the White House open up against him fentanyl, the secretary of public instruction (SEP) announced that it would undertake actions to raise awareness among Mexican students about the consumption of the said substance.

Through an official statement, the agency in charge of Leticia Ramírez Anaya announced that it will implement a national strategy to prevent and report the serious harm caused by the consumption of said drug. This measure, he added, will be applied from the outset with High school students in private and public schools.

From a Telesecundaria school in Huitzilac, Morelos, Ramírez Anaya explained that the measure will consist of teachers and students supporting 10 to 15 minute interviewsthree days a week, regarding harm caused by the use of fentanyl and other types of amphetamines.

“We will work on our strategy from the classroomin the classroom, as we know how to do all the time, working with and for girls, boys, adolescents and young people, ”he said, without specifying whether the said action would be linked to the actions of the federal level with its United States counterpart to combat fentanyl trafficking between the two nations.

Fentanyl claims to be 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin. Addiction to the said substance claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people in 2022 in UNITED STATES (UNITED STATES), listed as an alarming public health crisis for the nation.

However, Mexico’s role in solving this problem has been strengthened in recent weeks after various American politicians have questioned the Mexican government’s ability to fight against the criminal organizations that traffic in the said substance.

In the midst of this controversy – which led to strong criticism and attacks by López Obrador against American servers – AMLO met with the national security adviser of the Casa Blanca, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, March 9 at the National Palace.

Although the chief executive did not detail the subjects discussed during the meeting, it is known that the man from Tabasco was accompanied by the American ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar; the head of the Secretariat of Public and Citizen Security (SSPC), Rosa Icela Rodríguez; External Relations (SRE), Marcelo Ebrard, and National Defense (Sedena), Luis Cresencio Sandoval.

Added to this is the appointment of Rosa Icela as the fentanyl czar during a meeting of the Mexican and American delegations. Es decir, la titular de la SSPC will work together with Sherwood-Randall to buscar actions que enjuicien a narcotraficantes, dismantling las redes criminales, interrumpir el suministros de precursores quimicos utilizados para fabricar fentanilo ilícito y to prevent el tráfico de drugs, armas y personas en the border.

The appointment of Rosa Icela stems from agreements reached between representatives of Canada, Mexico and the United States to eradicate synthetic opioids in the three countries. In this context, it is expected that a second phase of the agreement will aim to increase cooperation for fight against transnational organized crimethe illicit production of fentanyl and the trafficking of large arms and ammunition to Mexico.

Likewise, the commissions discussed a program aimed at improving interagency coordination between Mexico and the United States, as well as the bilateral exchange of criminal intelligence for attack the strategic points of the supply chain synthetic drugs.

Officials from Mexico and the United States are expected to meet again for this purpose in Washington DC to further review and discuss the effectiveness of expanded policies and improve intelligence and information sharing against transnational criminal organizations.