Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks out on fentanyl production after Trump’s threat of tariffs
Mexico is not the only source of fentanyl, its president said Tuesday at a news conference for the country’s anti-drug campaign, just weeks after President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the drug trade.
“Until now, we haven’t discovered that the precursors are coming, because most of the precursors come from Asia and the whole process is produced here in Mexico,” said president Claudia Sheinbaum. “Laboratories that have been dismantled in our country are mainly for methamphetamine or crystal (meth).”
Sheinbaum stressed that her government is committed to the fight against illegal drug distribution. In recent weeks, Mexican authorities have announced several large seizures of fentanyl — a synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin — as well as chemical precursors. Officials said last month that the seizure was more than a ton of fentanyl pills the largest in the country’s history.
At the press conference, Sheinbaum said that while there are concerns about fentanyl in Mexico, the problem is not 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 at January 20said he intends to impose 25% tariffs on Mexican exports if the country fails to curb the flow of drugs and migrants.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration says Mexican cartels are “at the heart” of the synthetic narcotics crisis in the United States.
The powerful Sinaloa cartel “dominates the fentanyl market through manipulation of the global supply chain and the expansion of clandestine fentanyl laboratories in Mexico,” according to the 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment.
The cartel “has been producing large amounts of fentanyl since at least 2012,” the DEA said.
Outgoing US Ambassador Ken Salazar said at a press conference on Monday that he had no doubt the drug was manufactured in Mexico.
“I know what’s going on, that there’s fentanyl in Mexico, and I know it’s being produced here,” he said.
In a 2024 “60 Minutes” interview, the former president of Mexico Andrés Manuel López he echoed Sheinbaum’s position.
“Fentanyl is produced in the United States, Canada and Mexico. And the chemical precursors come from Asia,” said Manuel López.
