Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum addresses fentanyl production following Trump's tariff threat
Mexico isn't the sole source of fentanyl, its president said Tuesday at a news conference for the country's anti-drug campaign, just weeks after threats from President-elect Donald Trump to impose tariffs over drug trafficking.
"So far, we have not found that precursors arrive, because most of the precursors come from Asia, and that the whole process is manufactured here in Mexico," President Claudia Sheinbaum said. "The laboratories that have been dismantled in our country are mainly for methamphetamine or crystal (meth)."
Sheinbaum stressed that her government was committed to combating illegal drug distribution. In recent weeks, Mexican authorities have announced several major seizures of fentanyl — a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin — as well as chemical precursors. Officials said last month that the seizure of over a ton of fentanyl pills was the biggest in the country's history.
At the news conference, Sheinbaum said that while there are concerns about fentanyl in Mexico, the problem isn't as widespread as it is in the United States where it has been linked to tens of thousands of overdose deaths.
Trump, who will begin his second term on Jan. 20, said he intends to levy 25% tariffs on Mexican exports if the country fails to contain flows of drugs and migrants.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that Mexican cartels are "at the heart" of a synthetic narcotics crisis in the United States.
The powerful Sinaloa Cartel "dominates the fentanyl market through its manipulation of the global supply chain and the proliferation of clandestine fentanyl labs in Mexico," it said in its 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment.
The cartel has been "producing bulk quantities of fentanyl since at least 2012," the DEA said.
Outgoing U.S. ambassador Ken Salazar said at a news conference on Monday that he had no doubt the drug was manufactured in Mexico.
"I know what's happening, that there is fentanyl in Mexico, and I also know that it is produced here," he said.
In a 2024 interview with "60 Minutes," Mexico former president Andrés Manuel López echoed Sheinbaum's stance.
"Fentanyl is produced in the United States, in Canada, and in Mexico. And the chemical precursors come from Asia," Manuel López said.