FentanylDrug CartelsSinaloa CartelBeltran LeyvaGarcia Harfuch, OmarSheinbaum, ClaudiaLopez Obrador, Andres ManuelTrump, Donald JMexicoGuerrero (Mexico)United States International Relations
President Claudia Sheinbaum noted that more than 20 million doses of fentanyl were seized in the operation, worth almost $400 million.
Mexican security forces seized more than a ton of fentanyl this week, marking the country’s largest seizure of synthetic opioids, which authorities said Wednesday is equivalent to 20 million doses of the drug.
It is the latest show of strength by Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, in her fight against violence and illicit drugs, ahead of the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump next month.
Trump has promised to impose high tariffs on Mexico until the government stops drugs and migrants from crossing the border.
Mexican authorities said that on Tuesday, 800 kilograms of fentanyl were seized in a truck at a house in the state of Sinaloa, headquarters of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel and a fentanyl production center. The agents also seized chemical precursors used to manufacture the synthetic drug and 300 kilos more in another house, in addition to industrial mixers and scales.
In another operation carried out that same day, security officials and prosecutors indicated that they had detained two men who were carrying two kilos of fentanyl pills. The authorities stated that the men ran a cell dedicated to the production and trafficking of this drug.
During his daily news conference Wednesday morning, Sheinbaum said the operations were part of a lengthy investigation and resulted in the “largest seizure of fentanyl pills ever made.”
He added that more than 20 million doses of fentanyl were seized in the operation, worth almost $400 million.
Sheinbaum, who has promised to curb uncontrolled cartel violence, has faced a bloody first two months in office. Warring factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have turned the state into a war zone following the kidnapping and detention by U.S. agents of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, a cartel godfather who was betrayed by the son of cartel co-founder Joaquín Guzmán Loera , known as El Chapo.
“These actions will continue until the violence in the state of Sinaloa decreases,” Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, said on social media, referring to drug seizures.
García Harfuch announced this week that since Sheinbaum took office on October 1, Mexican authorities have detained more than 5,300 people and seized nearly 58 tons of drugs, including the equivalent of 50 million doses of fentanyl.
The fact that the president is focusing on the fight against crime is a measure that, according to some security analysts, could appease Trump, who has always put Mexico in his sights. He has threatened to impose extreme tariffs on the country’s exports to the United States, and has even challenged Mexican sovereignty by proposing US military strikes against that country’s drug cartels.
“Trump’s threats certainly set the wheels in motion, let’s say,” said Eduardo Guerrero, a security adviser in Mexico. “All of this is being done to come to the negotiating table with Trump’s security team with a portfolio of accomplishments.”
Mexico can achieve two objectives, he added: “It can help the United States on migration and fentanyl, and at the same time, with those same operations, it could begin to pacify some parts of the country.”
The new administration has placed a big emphasis on intelligence, said Josué Ángel González Torres, a security analyst in Mexico City who has previously worked for Mexican security and intelligence agencies. It has also strengthened coordination between federal security forces and the country’s attorney general, local police officers and prosecutors, he said.
Mexico’s previous president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, avoided direct confrontations with criminals and instead focused on addressing the root causes of violence, such as poverty, with a policy enshrined in the motto “hugs, not bullets.” The approach had some success, but failed to significantly reduce bloodshed across Mexico, government data show.
It’s too early to know whether Sheinbaum has departed from this security policy, but some analysts said there are signs of a more heavy-handed approach.
“I have no longer heard the theme of ‘hugs, not bullets,'” González Torres said. “There are substantive changes that appear to be positive.”
In Tuesday’s operation, Mexican authorities said security agents saw men carrying what appeared to be firearms fleeing toward two houses in Ahome, a municipality in Sinaloa. Authorities entered the properties and found a total of 1,100 kilos of fentanyl, in addition to the equipment used to manufacture it.
The second, smaller operation was carried out in Guasave, another municipality in Sinaloa. There, Mexican authorities said agents detected a car whose two occupants tried to flee. Officers caught up to the vehicle, stopped it and searched it. They found three firearms, nine full magazines, radio communication equipment and two kilos of fentanyl pills, authorities reported.
James Wagner covers Latin America, including sports, based in Mexico City. Nicaraguan-American from the Washington area, his native language is Spanish. More by James Wagner
Emiliano Rodríguez Mega is an investigative reporter for the Times in Mexico City. Covers Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. More from Emiliano Rodríguez Mega
