:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/U23YNJNTNRCYVKCTHFQL3C33TU.jpg "The Sinaloa Cartel's Sophisticated Laboratories That Are in the Crosshairs of the United States 1")
He United States Government reported to have sanctioned six companies, based in Mexico, involved in the distribution of illicit chemical precursors directly from the fentanyl and methamphetamineas well as other synthetic drugs, to members and operators of the super labs of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group that later traffics said drugs into North American territory.
They capture a subject who was transporting over 500 packs of methamphetamine to Sonora
In recent weeks, people have been linked to using national highways to traffic this type of drug.
According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), “the Zamudio Lerma brothers and their network promote the production of synthetic drugs that are devastating the lives of Americans, while the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel line their pockets”.
OFAC noted that precursor chemicals are used in so-called super labs that produce hundreds of kilograms (Kg) or more of this drug per cycle to create fentanyl and methamphetamine.
He Government of Mexico presented on February 15, during the morning conference of the president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador In national palacea super laboratory confiscated by the Armed forces.
The Zárate brothers, whom the United States accuses of distributing methamphetamine for the CJNG
The Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG are two of the largest producers of meth used in the United States, but connections across the border have rarely been revealed.
In the laboratory, 128.03 kg of granulated fentanyl were found, representing 128 million doses. In addition to 68,576 kg of pills of this same drug; 275 kg of mannitol in six drums, 225 kg of caustic soda in 9 bags, a mixer for commercial use and a tableting machine to make tablets.
“It’s not the so-called kitchen anymore,” López Obrador said, showing the recording showing a perfectly air-conditioned room where there were work tables for preparing fentanyl and methamphetamine. The president pointed out that the confiscation meant a loss for drug traffickers of one thousand 500 million pesos.
First mega-meth seizure of 2023: Sedena secures over 400 kilos and a thousand liters of drugs in Sinaloa
The substance was found in a moonlighting house which was being watched by a group of people
Unlike other clandestine organized crime laboratories, those presented by the government of Mexico show great progress in the development of this synthetic opioid which, according to the US National Institute on Drug Abuseis the drug commonly associated with overdose deaths of US citizens, which is why it has been declared a pandemic.
The tablet machine which allows the production of 4,500 tablets per hour and which is equivalent to 125 kg of fentanyl, had already been reported in other large laboratories of the faction of Ismael El Mayo Zambada, another of the leaders of the cartel of Sinaloa. However, the US-sanctioned companies are distributors of precursors to the Los Chapitos faction, the sons of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán.
“Brothers Ludim Zamudio Lerma and Luis Alfonso Zamudio Lerma, along with Ludim Zamudio Lerma’s son, Ludim Zamudio Ibarra, are responsible for supplying illicit chemical precursors to high-level members of the Sinaloa Cartel, including Luis Gerardo Flores Madrid , who works for Ovidio Guzmán López and the operators of the mega laboratory, including Ernesto Machado Torres and José Santana Arredondo Beltrán,” OFAC reported.
On February 15, the E Drug Administration (DEA) called on the Mexican government to “do more” against the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel Nueva Generación (CJNG), which it accuses of causing thousands of deaths by fentanyl overdose in the United States.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than morphine and mixed with other drugs to enhance its effect, is manufactured in Mexico from precursors imported from China and then smuggled into the United States.
“We believe that Mexico needs to do more to stop the damage that is being done. These two Mexican cartels, Sinaloa and Jalisco, dominate the global fentanyl supply chain,” remarked Anne Milgram, director of the DEA, during an appearance before the Senate.
According to the DEA, the Sinaloa Cartel operates in at least 19 of Mexico’s 32 states, while the CJNG does so in 23 regions.