Mexican cartels that produce fentanyl found a new destination for their laboratories

Puerto Vallarta (PVDN) – US pressure on the Mexican government to combat fentanyl trafficking has led drug cartels to seek new horizons to manufacture this deadly synthetic opioid. Thus, criminal organizations have found a new country to move their production: Colombia.

On March 16 elements of the Colombian National Police carried out the arrest of a couple of subjects who were identified as members of the Sinaloa Cartel (one of the main groups responsible for the production of fentanyl in Mexico), who worked for the faction of “Los Chapitos”, led by the sons of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán.

The arrest of the two individuals took place at the El Dorado international airport in Bogotá. The Colombian authorities verified what was suspected at one time: that the Mexican cartels have sought to transfer the manufacture of the opioid to Colombia.

The detainees were identified as Carlos Félix Guitérrez and Silvano Francisco Mariano, who had a residence in Culiacán, Sinaloa, although they are from other states, according to reports from the weekly Proceso. Although they assured that their trip to Colombia was for tourist purposes, their plans were different.

Carlos and Silvano left a flight from Mexico City with a specific task: contact local drug traffickers and coordinate a plan for the “production, sale and export” of fentanyl. For this reason, they had several meetings scheduled in Medellín and Bogotá, where they intended to set up clandestine laboratories for processing.

However, their plans were foiled after his arrest, which was announced six days later by the authorities. Even the president of Colombia, Gustavo Preto, confirmed his intentions in a publication on social networks. “Trying to produce fentanyl, the worst of the worst, this band from the Sinaloa cartel is captured in Colombia,” he commented on that occasion.

Authorities from Greece and Guatemala also participated in these arrests. Later it was learned that both Carlos and Silvano had arrest warrants for the purpose of extradition to the United States, since they presented charges of fentanyl trafficking, due to a shipment of 400 grams of the narcotic that was produced in Mexico and taken to the United States, according to the indictment of the Federal Court of the Southern District of New York.

‘Los Chapitos’ had two options to acquire fentanyl in Colombia, according to reports by journalist Rafael Croda. One of them consisted of obtaining it through the “diversions” of the drug that is used legally in the country’s hospitals (either as an analgesic or as a cancer treatment). This practice is recurrent, since the Ministry of Health indicated that in 2022 the loss of 88 vials of the narcotic was reported.

The second option was for the Sinaloa Cartel to resort to its contacts in China to import it illegally. This method has even been identified by the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who on several occasions has indicated that the chemical precursors used to make fentanyl come from China.

The reason why Colombia has been an alternative for ‘Los Chapitos’ in terms of opioid manufacturing has to do with the “manpower, experience and knowledge” that local drug traffickers have to produce drugs.

Although the Colombian authorities have not found a fentanyl drug laboratory in their country, they do not rule out its existence, since the deadly opioid arrived in Cartagena two years ago. That is, there is consumption but no production (so far).

In September 2016, the Bogotá Metropolitan Police seized just over 122 grams of a chemical precursor used in clandestine laboratories for the preparation of fentanyl, which can be up to 50 times more powerful than heroin.

In Mexico, the Sinaloa Cartel is not the only transnational organization that produces fentanyl, as there is also the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel ( CJNG ). These two groups have been pointed out by the DEA as the main ones responsible for the trafficking of the drug to the United States.

This means that the consumption and trafficking of fentanyl have become a problem of global scope. In 2021, more than 71,000 deaths were reported in the United States from overdoses derived from synthetic opioids.