Security Ministry Omar García Harfuch announced Tuesday that federal authorities had completed the largest fentanyl bust in Mexican history, seizing more than 1,000 kilograms of the synthetic opioid in the northern state of Sinaloa.
In a late-night post to X, García said that personnel with the navy, the army, the National Guard, the Federal Attorney General’s Office and the federal Security Ministry confiscated “more than 1 tonne of fentanyl pills” in “two different actions” in Sinaloa, which is home to the powerful Sinaloa Cartel.
En dos acciones distintas encabezadas por @SEMAR_mx, elementos del Gabinete de Seguridad @SEDENAmx, @FGRMexico, @GN_MEXICO_ y @SSPCMexico en Sinaloa se logró el decomiso histórico más grande de fentanilo; Más de una tonelada de pastillas de fentanilo, dos hombres fueron… pic.twitter.com/QP6qJkjBIA
— Omar H Garcia Harfuch (@OHarfuch) December 4, 2024
The security minister, who is currently in Sinaloa, also said that two men were detained and firearms were seized.
“These actions will continue until violence decreases in the state of Sinaloa,” García said, referring to a fierce war between rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel that has claimed hundreds of lives in recent months.
The Security Ministry (SSPC) said in a statement on Wednesday that more than 1,000 kilograms of fentanyl was seized Tuesday at two addresses in Ahome, a coastal municipality that borders the state of Sonora.
Precursor chemicals, containers, vehicles, industrial mixers and scales were also confiscated, the ministry said.
The SSPC said that the estimated “economic impact” of the fentanyl bust was approximately US $400 million.
The record fentanyl seizure came eight days after United States President-elect Donald Trump pledged to impose a 25% tariff on Mexican exports “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
The Mexican government has pointed out that it is already taking strong action against the trafficking of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States, something that was recognized by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this year.
Still, a one-tonne seizure of fentanyl seven weeks before Trump is sworn in for his second term as U.S. president, and after confiscations of the drug declined in the first half of 2024, strengthens the government’s argument.
At her Wednesday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum acknowledged what she called “the largest seizure of fentanyl pills” in Mexico, and told reporters it came after a lengthy investigation.
“To think of a tonne of fentanyl, we’re talking about more than 20 million doses,” she said.
Sheinbaum noted that García traveled to Sinaloa on Tuesday and will remain in the state for a few days.
She said that the security minister will help “to coordinate in a better way” the security strategy in Sinaloa, where a long-running battle between the Los Chapitos and Los Mayos factions of the Sinaloa Cartel intensified after the arrest of cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in the United States in late July.
Zambada alleges he was kidnapped and forced onto a U.S.-bound private plane by Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera.
The Sinaloa Cartel, which was founded by Zambada, Guzmán Loera and others, “is largely responsible for the massive influx of fentanyl into the United States over the past approximately eight years,” according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
That cartel and other criminal organizations including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel manufacture fentanyl pills in Mexico with Chinese-made precursor chemicals smuggled into the country through Pacific coast ports, according to Mexican and U.S. authorities.
The powerful synthetic opioid has fueled an overdose crisis in the United States, where more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2023.
Trump said in July he was “absolutely” prepared to launch United States military strikes against Mexican cartels if large quantities of drugs continued to flow into the U.S. from Mexico, while members of his transition team are reportedly looking at the possibility of the U.S. army carrying out some kind of incursion into Mexican territory.
On Tuesday, Sheinbaum ruled out the possibility of a U.S. “invasion” of Mexico to combat cartels, and reiterated her view that she will have a “good relationship” with Trump once he returns to the White House on Jan. 20.
Mexico News Daily
