{"id":7439,"date":"2020-12-14T05:23:36","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T10:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=7439"},"modified":"2020-12-14T05:36:30","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T10:36:30","slug":"revealed-how-mexicos-sinaloa-cartel-has-created-a-global-network-to-rule-the-fentanyl-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=7439","title":{"rendered":"Revealed: How Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel Has Created a Global Network to Rule the Fentanyl Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"
Fentanyl pills being made in Mexico. \u2018I know my pill is very powerful and that it will create dependence. And that\u2019s what I want.\u2019 Photograph: Forbidden Stories<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A collaboration with 24 international media outlets across 18 countries, and coordinated by Forbidden Stories<\/a>, the Cartel Project investigates the global networks of Mexican drug cartels and their political connections around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

Drugs bust in India sheds light on how adaptable cartels have come to dominate the lucrative trade in the powerful synthetic opioid.<\/p>\n

Carlos is a Mexican businessman employed by an import-export company that specializes in the trade of tequila and agricultural and chemical products. But in January 2016, he was a long way from his home in Culiac\u00e1n, capital of Sinaloa state.<\/p>\n

Two associates accompanied him as he travelled from Shanghai to Hong Kong, Japan, and finally, India.<\/p>\n

There, they met Manu Gupta, a businessman active in a variety of sectors: chemical and pharmaceutical industries, agri-food products, sand, and even machinery.<\/p>\n

Two years later, allegations were made about another aspect of Gupta\u2019s business interests. On 25 September 2018 he was arrested<\/a> in the city of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, along with a Mexican associate and an Indian chemist. The three men were wearing masks and gloves \u2013 and were in possession of more than 10kg of fentanyl \u2014 an ultra-potent synthetic opioid<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gupta and his associates are accused of planning to ship the fentanyl to Mexico<\/a> on a commercial flight, hidden in a suitcase. The three men are currently awaiting trial in India. All three have denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

Analysis of social media posts and publicly available company information suggests that Carlos (not his real name) appears to match the profile of a man described in a 2019 DEA report as an independent dealer in precursor chemicals.<\/p>\n

That report \u2013 obtained by the international hacking group Anonymous and released in the \u201cBlueLeaks\u201d document dump in June \u2013 says the unnamed man from Sinaloa was dispatched to \u201cpurchase additional large quantities of fentanyl precursor chemicals directly from China\u201d on behalf of the cartel. Carlos did not respond to the Cartel Project\u2019s requests for an interview.<\/p>\n

The case sheds light on the international networks which Mexican cartels have built up \u2013 and the business methods they employ to dominate the lucrative fentanyl market.<\/p>\n

As murderous as they are, Mexico\u2019s crime organizations use the same strategies as any other business: the seek to maximize profit, they outsource to specialists \u2013 and they adapt constantly to reflect changing international regulations.<\/p>\n

A dominant force<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the imprisonment of its most notorious leader, Joaqu\u00edn \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzm\u00e1n<\/a>, the Sinaloa cartel remains a dominant force in the drug trade. The October 2019 DEA report describes the group as \u201ca prominent producer and trafficker of Mexico-based fentanyl into the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid analgesic like morphine, but cheaper, and 50 to 100 times more potent.<\/a><\/p>\n

Fentanyl increasingly displaced heroin on the underground market, causing record numbers of overdoses around the world. In 2018, fentanyl and similar synthetic drugs accounted for nearly half of the 67,367 drug overdose deaths in the US. This year, overdoses have rocketed during the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 40 US states reporting an increase in drug mortality rates \u2013 particularly from synthetic opioids like fentanyl, according to the American Medical Association.<\/a><\/p>\n

Not so long ago, the mountains of Sinaloa and Guerrero states were a patchwork of small plantations, where subsistence farmers eked out a living by cultivating marijuana and opium poppies. Now, however, those crops are being replaced by clandestine laboratories churning out shipments of synthetic drugs.<\/p>\n

At one such lab \u2013 little more than a few tables amid scrubby woodland near the state capital, Culiac\u00e1n \u2013 a cartel chemist and his assistant were working on a new batch of pills. Both men wore white overalls and respirator masks. The chemist, a burly man with a master\u2019s degree in biochemical engineering described the industry\u2019s transformation, as the pair worked at an outside table.<\/p>\n

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid analgesic like morphine, but cheaper and far more potent. Photograph: Forbidden Stories<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFentanyl brings in more profits. You only need one pill per person. So if we transport 10,000 pills, then it\u2019s 10,000 people who are going to take them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stirring a white powder with a plastic spatula, he said: \u201cI know my pill is very powerful and that it will create dependence. And that\u2019s what I want. When a consumer takes one and then needs another dose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fentanyl is extraordinarily profitable to produce: where opium poppies require acres of land and months of care, this highly powerful drug requires only a minimal workforce and infrastructure. A 2019 DEA report estimated that each fentanyl pill costs only $1 to produce. It can be resold in the US for at least 10 times as much.<\/p>\n

New opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n

Until very recently, most of the fentanyl sold in the US came from China, but that changed with stricter international regulations in 2017, and a Chinese crackdown in 2019<\/a>. Shipping fentanyl directly became riskier, but China remains the main producer of the precursor chemical.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the cartels saw a new opportunity to enter into the market as intermediaries.<\/p>\n

With its well-established network, the Sinaloa cartel already had a solid infrastructure to expand into synthetic drugs. A DEA memo released through \u201cBlueLeaks\u201d described a highly organized circuit that included warehouses at the border and distributors across the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe profit margins they get out of it is by synthesizing plus refining the product into its consumable form,\u201d explained Falko Ernst, senior Mexico analyst at International Crisis Group in Mexico.<\/p>\n

And despite the cartels\u2019 popular image as vertically integrated organizations, they often turn to independent networks to outsource logistics or money laundering.<\/p>\n

\u201cCartels\u2019 brand names fade away eventually. [But] all of those [other] networks stay in place because they\u2019re much less visible. They\u2019re much more clandestine in their operations. They don\u2019t go public and they\u2019re much more shielded from the volatility of the market,\u201d<\/strong> said Ernst.<\/p>\n

Back on the other side of the globe, Chinese manufacturers of precursors adopt similar strategies to avoid getting caught. And as Beijing tightens regulations, some criminal networks are relocating parts of their business to countries with less strict monitoring, notably Vietnam and India.<\/p>\n

\u2018Things have just changed so dramatically\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

In theory, sales of precursors are highly regulated: the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) maintains a \u201cRed List\u201d of substances subject to restrictions.<\/p>\n

But there are almost endless possibilities to circumvent these controls by tinkering with chemical compounds<\/a> to produce new substances which fall outside the current rules.<\/p>\n

To combat this phenomenon, the INCB also maintains the international special surveillance list of non-scheduled substances, ISSL, to monitor products that are not necessarily controlled substances but are frequently used illegally.<\/p>\n

This regulation system is flawed, however: the INCB \u2013 a non-binding entity \u2013 relies on the goodwill of companies and inspections by authorities which works better in theory than in practice. In reality, the extent of the problem is revealed with a simple Google search.<\/p>\n

Entering keywords for fentanyl precursors quickly leads you to the social network Pinterest, where \u2013 nestled between wedding moodboards and home decor inspiration \u2013 are posts from Chinese companies offering fentanyl precursors for export\u2014 many directed towards Mexico.<\/p>\n

At the top of the page is \u201c4-AP\u201d, a substance on the ISSL list that recently became a controlled substance in the US. According to the DEA, 4-AP only has one purpose: to produce fentanyl.<\/p>\n

Under the cover of a false Mexican identity, the Cartel Project contacted three companies, all of which offered our undercover reporters substances known to be used in the opioid synthesis.<\/p>\n

One company offered multiple substances similar to 4-AP that were still available for sale. The vendor proposed using a \u201cspecial line\u201d to ship it to Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bought off some people at the Mexican customs, we trusted them very much, and they helped with all our shipments to Mexico. So you don\u2019t have to worry about customs,\u201d the vendor wrote.<\/p>\n

In another conversation, the vendor explained that one of their \u201cbig\u201d clients in Mexico used cargo planes to deliver precursors. \u201cWhen the goods arrived in Mexico, he would use his own connections to pick up the goods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryce Pardo, a researcher at the Rand Corporation who specializes in drug policy, said modern legislation was simply out of step with today\u2019s narcotics market.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur drug control laws are based on a very old system where everything is based on the UN single convention from 1961. These were really focused on three plants: cannabis, coca and poppy. Things have just changed so dramatically in the last 10, 15 years, ever since China really got online with its pharmaceutical sector \u2013 to the point where we just cannot keep up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Audrey Trav\u00e8re and Jules Giraudat in Culiac\u00e1n. Additional reporting by Fran\u00e7ois Ruchti (RTS), Sandhya Ravishankar (The Lede), Michael Standaert (South China Morning Post) and Michael Lohmuller (C4ADS)<\/em><\/p>\n

From the Guardian<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A collaboration with 24 international media outlets across 18 countries, and coordinated by Forbidden Stories, the Cartel Project investigates the global networks of Mexican drug cartels and their political connections around the world. Drugs bust in India sheds light on how adaptable cartels have come to dominate the lucrative trade in the powerful synthetic opioid.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":7442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/83926cd3847791a26958e2719f94b0dd218efae4\/120_0_3600_2160\/master\/3600.jpg?width=1300&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=8d433f0e1cd00e33d086b1d6b49fe958","fifu_image_alt":"Revealed: How Mexico\u2019s Sinaloa Cartel Has Created a Global Network to Rule the Fentanyl Trade","footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security-public-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7439"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7443,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7439\/revisions\/7443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}