Mexico Seizes 630,000 Fentanyl Pills in Record Bust

Mexican authorities seized a ton of fentanyl pills this week in what they described as a record bankruptcy.

Ministry of Defense said on wednesday “Mexican Army personnel seized a fentanyl tablet manufacturing center and laboratory with the largest methamphetamine production capacity in the city of Culiacan, Sinaloa state in northwestern Mexico,” it said.

A raid conducted on Tuesday yielded “an estimated 629,138 fentanyl tablets weighing about 68,576 kilograms,” government officials said in a statement.

Ministry of Defense Are listed Other discoveries of soldiers in the raid include: about 100 kg of possible methamphetamine; about 750 kg of estimated tartaric acid; about 275 kg of possible mannitol; about 225 kg of estimated caustic soda. [and] 28 organic synthesis reactors.

“Because of its large number of reactors, this laboratory is the one with the largest synthetic drug production capacity recorded historically and during the current administration,” officials said. said in the announcement.

“While conducting intelligence operations to strengthen the country’s rule of law and detect criminal gangs residing in its federal agencies, military personnel will not be allowed access to land and areas used as property,” the Department of Defense said. I got the information,” he said. A laboratory for the production of drugs in the city of Culiacan, Sin.

“Derived from the above and the operational plan, units of the Mexican Army conducted ground reconnaissance near the municipalities of Pueblos Unidos, Sin and Culiacan where they found production centers and secret laboratories for the manufacture of synthetic drugs. , military personnel have implemented security devices,” the ministry said.

The announcement continues:

These actions were carried out in strict adherence to the rule of law and with full respect for human rights. In this way, the Mexican Army reaffirms the federal government’s unwavering determination to continue to act against organized crime while meeting the needs demanded by society. Likewise, we support our commitment to ensure and protect the well-being of our citizens and to ensure the peace and security of our people. “

The historic bankruptcy comes at a time when the United States is also struggling to contain the fentanyl trade domestically.

As CBS News pointed outTuesday’s bankruptcy “occurred on the same day that the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on the enormous number of U.S. fentanyl overdoses that occur each year, currently about 70,000,” the committee said. The president, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, has put pressure on Mexico to step up its efforts to address the issue.

“This means asking Mexico to do more to stop the production and trafficking of fentanyl by criminal gangs, but the politicized judiciary and Mexican security forces colluding with drug cartels. case makes that difficult,” the senator said. As quoted by CBS News.

CBS also noted, “Mexican drug cartels manufacture opioids from precursor chemicals shipped from China and squeeze them into counterfeit pills like Xanax, Percocet or Oxycodone.” People often “take pills without knowing they contain fentanyl and suffer fatal overdoses.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention“More than 150 people die every day from overdoses associated with synthetic opioids like fentanyl.”