Hard Times All Around

Mexican cartels are really struggling.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has sent the price of heroin, methamphetamines and fentanyl soaring, as the likes of the Sinaloa cartel – and its main rival, the Jalisco “New Generation” – struggle to obtain the necessary chemicals to make the synthetic drugs, which typically come from China and are now in minimal supply.

“The cartels have suffered from COVID-19 due to the inability to get the regular shipments of synthetic opioids and precursor chemicals for the massive production of meth from China,” Derek Maltz, a former special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Operations Division in New York, told Fox News.

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Obdola underscored fentanyl, which originates from China, has become the most coveted cartel commodity in recent weeks.

“In China, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), around 5,000 illegal drug laboratories have been processing synthetic drugs and chemicals to process them. Most of these drugs have Europe and North America as the main markets,” he continued.
Even the cartels can't trust China, it seems.

4 comments:

Gringo said...

“In China, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), around 5,000 illegal drug laboratories have been processing synthetic drugs and chemicals to process them. Most of these drugs have Europe and North America as the main markets,” he continued.

Given the intimate knowledge the Chinese government has of its citizens, odds are the government knows where these illegal drug laboratories are located. As they still exist, the implication is that they exist with the knowledge and permission of the government.

Grim said...

There is a large black market in China too. No doubt mostly it's known of by the government, but chiefly by corrupt officials who look the other way in return for payments.

Grim said...

In fact, when I lived in China, the same public official who signed my visa (and therefore knew I did not have a work permit) arranged my illegal employment. I imagine he received kickbacks for that, too.

ymarsakar said...

I feel so sorry for DEA/Fast Furious and the Cartels... no I don't. THey can sink together in the same boat, as they often work for each other. These peeps think they were the next coming of Genghis Khan and 4th negative density empire... but they are just fuel to be burned, that is all.