Culiacan, Sitting In A Sea Of Synthetic Drugs

 "Ivan" for Borderland Beat 

In less than a month, a second warehouse with drugs and tons of precursor chemicals for making synthetic drugs was located in the urban area of Culiacán.

The half million fentanyl pills seized last week were considered a historic seizure by the Federal Government.

According to the Undersecretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Ricardo Mejía Bermejo, the seizure represents an economic impact of 4,642 million pesos to organized crime.the warehouse is located on Poniente Street, in the Las Palmas subdivision, in the Infonavit Las Flores sector.

The property was located on the afternoon of Saturday, July 2 by members of the National Guard and the Army.

Ten people were detained at the site and handed over to the Attorney General's Office.

They were allegedly unloading drums of chemicals from a trailer when they were caught.

After the arrest and realizing that there were chemicals, the officers installed a security fence in the area and blocked vehicular traffic.

It was not until Monday morning when personnel from the Attorney General's Office entered the place with a search warrant. The search of the property was concluded on Wednesday.

According to information from the Attorney General's Office, there were approximately 510,000 fentanyl tablets, 1,000 kilos of methamphetamine, 83 kilos of fentanyl, 31 kilos of cocaine, 8 kilos of heroin and 26,000 pesos.

As of Friday afternoon, FGR experts were still working to determine the exact quantities and weights of the drugs and substances seized.

In addition, several quantities of precursor chemicals for drug production, a tractor-trailer coupled to a dry box, as well as six vehicles of different brands were seized.

The drugs were in packages hidden in chemical drums used in the agricultural sector.

Mejia Bermejo noted that it represents the largest fentanyl seizure in history.

"It is the largest seizure and securing in history of this lethal drug that is fentanyl, and other chemicals and precursors were also secured, as well as the property." Here are some images of this historic seizure, which was the result of the work of the Mexican Army, and also of the coordination with the National Guard. This seizure represents an economic impact on organized crime of approximately four thousand 642 million pesos," he said.

The official mentioned that the Sedena maintains a deployment for the seizure of chemical precursors and clandestine laboratories.

In the period from May 21 to July 5, through this deployment of 370 elements of the Mexican Army, 94 laboratories have been seized, he said.

He affirmed that these seizures imply "an affectation to organized crime for 131 million pesos". In addition, 30,800 liters of chemical substances and other precursors used for the production of synthetic drug doses have been seized.

On June 5, another warehouse with precursor chemicals had already been seized in the urban area of Culiacan.

The property is located on Rafael Buelna street, between Nicolas Bravo and Guadalupe Victoria, a few meters from the UAS Central High School.

There were 54,000 liters and 38 tons of precursor chemicals for the production of methamphetamine.

Personnel from the Attorney General's Office (FGR) reported that the place did not produce drugs, it was only used as a warehouse.

Among the substances seized were methylformide, lead acetate, tartaric acid, distilled water, methyl chloride, sodium cyanide and ethyl alcohol.

On March 12, in the Las Siete Gotas neighborhood, they had already seized a house used as a warehouse for drugs and substances.

At the place they seized 400 kilograms of crystal, contained in 66 bags, ten coolers, eight containers and three tubs, three 50 liter drums with a colorless liquid substance, a 50 liter drum with a brown liquid, a tub with white powder and two motorcycles and a vehicle.

Governor Rubén Rocha Moya said that there is no specific operation to locate chemical precursor warehouses in the urban area, but the latest seizures are guiding investigations.

"There is not exactly an operation to find warehouses, but all this is already arousing suspicions and orienting you and the investigations are being carried out in that sense. We are happy about that because in fact a very, very important seizure was made, and they called it historic, a huge amount, more than half a ton of fentanyl, imagine the people, the young people who were going to poison and kill because that drug is very lethal," he said.

He commented that in the next few days the Ministry of Tourism will meet with US authorities so that they withdraw the travel alert.

Among the information they will present, he detailed, are the improvement in crime indicators and seizures such as the one last week.

"What was the destination of that drug, they must realize that as a government we are making every effort," he said.

Article published on July 10, 2022 in the 1015 edition of the weekly Ríodoce.

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