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Mexico says shipments of killer opioid fentanyl are coming from China

By David Laycock • Published: 06 May 2023 • 11:00

Mexico says shipments of killer opioid fentanyl are coming from China

Mexico says shipments of killer opioid fentanyl are coming from China Credit: ParentingPatch Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador believes shipments of fentanyl are arriving in the port of Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico, from China.

The drug has been a major driving force in the opioid crisis in the US, where these types of drugs are responsible for over 1,500 deaths per week. Known to arrive from the southern borders of the US, these drugs are considered an epidemic in America.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) believes that these synthetic drugs are manufactured by Mexican cartels, and while this may remain true, the Mexican President says he has proof they are being imported.

At the request of US politicians, President López Obrador has asked for Chinese cooperation in stopping the shipments, but plans to repeat his plea to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

As reported by the BBC on Friday the Mexican president said: “In a very respectful manner, we are going to send this information to reiterate the request that they help us.”

“We already have proof,” he said, adding that he would ask the Chinese government to help stop the shipments.

BBC News (World) showed packages of fentanyl on Twitter: “Mexico claims proof of Chinese fentanyl smuggling”.

Despite the assurances from the President of Mexico, China has said that they have not been informed of any such trafficking by Mexico and that the US fentanyl crisis is entirely of its own making.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning even went as far as saying: “There is no such thing as illegal trafficking of fentanyl between China and Mexico”. This suggests there will be no joint solution to the alleged problem.

The drugs were believed to have been hidden in fuel resins in shipping containers, which would mean that China would have to be extremely vigilant with checks to speak with such assurance on the matter.

Fentanyl, which is much more potent than heroin, continues to be a huge problem in the US. The US authorities continue to pursue Mexican cartels such as the Sinaloa cartel, in a bid to stop the drugs arriving from its southern borders.

Drugs kingpin,  Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán of the Sinaloa cartel is currently serving a life sentence in the US, but of his three sons who were charged with being part of the same racket, only one is in custody.

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Written by

David Laycock

Dave Laycock has always written. Poems, songs, essays, academic papers as well as newspaper articles; the written word has always held a great fascination for him and he is never happier than when being creative. From a musical background, Dave has travelled the world performing and also examining for a British music exam board. He also writes, produces and performs and records music. All this aside, he is currently fully focussed on his journalism and can’t wait to share more stories from around the world and beyond.

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