Thursday, 26 December 2024

Mexican Troops Seize Record Amount of Fentanyl Days After Trump Threatens Tariffs


Customs and Border Protection officers search for fentanyl / Getty Images

Mexican troops seized the largest fentanyl haul in the country’s history just days after President-elect Donald Trump vowed to impose tariffs in an effort to crack down on drug smuggling across the border, CNN reported.

"It is the largest seizure of fentanyl pills that has ever been made," Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday morning during her daily press conference. Authorities collected over a ton of the synthetic opioids in the cartel-ridden state of Sinaloa.

Last week, Trump vowed to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada unless the countries crack down on the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs across the U.S. border, the Associated Press reported.

"This tariff will remain in effect until such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!" Trump posted to his Truth Social platform last week.

"It is clear that the Mexican government has been managing the timing of fentanyl seizures," security analyst David Saucedo told the Associated Press. "But under the pressure by Donald Trump, it appears President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration is willing to the increase the capture of drug traffickers and drug seizures that Washington is demanding."

The state of Sinaloa is home to one of the world’s most influential drug smuggling organizations, the Sinaloa Cartel, according to CNN. The Sinaloa Cartel is likely responsible for the smuggling of large amounts of drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States.

Two men were arrested in relation to the historic drug bust, and troops seized several weapons in the raid.

"These actions will continue until the violence decreases in the state of Sinaloa," Mexico’s top security official, Omar Garcia Harfuch, wrote on X early Wednesday.


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