The Mexican Cartels are having difficulties getting chemicals to make methamphetamine and fentanyl that are shipped from China according to a recently published article.

Chemicals Shipped From China

Illegal drugs have been a large industry of Mexican cartels. It is one of the emblems that symbolize the influence and power of the cartel. In some instances, this is also one of the main reasons for their conflicts in the country.

However, it was recently reported that chemicals used in making fentanyl and methamphetamine are running out due to the global pandemic that blocks the shipping of chemicals that are initially from China. It was also predicted that it would affect the Mexican cartels' ability to produce synthetic drugs.

There are two ingredients known in making opioids, and these are NPP and 4aNPP that are mainly shipped from China. They are even the largest source of these ingredients. But due to the global pandemic, the importation of these chemicals are somehow limited. 

Mexican Cartels Hiring Chemists to Make Fentanyl

This situation led the Sinaloa Cartel under its present leader Ismael Zambada García, Los Chapitos, and Rafael Caro Quintero to shift some of their methamphetamine laboratories into fentanyl laboratories. The Sinaloa cartel is Mexico's most powerful organized group in distributing the synthetic drug.

Many Mexican cartels have seen the potential of fentanyl in generating drug money. In 2014, when the United States started to control the distribution and use of cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine, many Mexican cartels produced opioid in the market using the chemicals from China.

The Sinaloa Cartel hired chemists from different universities two years ago to work in the fentanyl laboratories and make sure that its production and supply every day. Moreover, Sinaloa, Mexico, is one of the places in the country that manufactures significant volumes of fentanyl.

The Sinaloa Cartel and the chemists tried to change the molecular analog of fentanyl so that they will no longer depend on the two ingredients that are imported from other countries. This is much less pure compared to the fentanyl in China. This means that this will allow drug traffickers to make the drugs more accessible and readily available anytime.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Fentanyl and other opiates in the United States are from Mexico. They also considered Sinaloa Cartel and New Generation Jalisco Cartel as two of the most significant criminal drug threats in the U.S.

Who Created Fentanyl?

A Belgian chemist named Paul Janssen created fentanyl in 1959. His original formula in making fentanyl went to more than 1,400 analogs. 

However, criminal groups in Mexico combined the opioid with heroin. They also ventured to manufacture counterfeit prescription pills that contain fentanyl.

Mexican Government Warns About Fentanyl

Hugo López-Gatell, undersecretary of Health Promotion and Prevention at the Health Secretariat, said: "An enormously large social group was created with opioid addiction, and that's where fentanyl appears, a processed chemical that is also used in medicine and is used as an anesthetic."

He also added that this drug has already made its way to the illegal markets in the U.S., and there are now signs of its use in Mexico. 

It was also observed by the Mexican government that there is a rapid use of this drug since 1990. The country became a producer to the neighboring countries to a consumer country. 

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