U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took to social media on Thursday to announce a successful Mexican government raid against three “large-scale” synthetic drug labs in the nation’s Sinaloa region.
The operation was conducted by Mexican government units that had been vetted by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Fiscalía General de la República, Agencia de Investigación Criminal (FGR-AIC), the Mexican Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (SEDENA), and the Secretaría de Marina.
ICE did not specify what drugs were being produced at the labs, though they did say that authorities seized narcotics, precursor drugs (elements used in production) and specified that the drugs were synthetic, suggesting that the labs were used for making fentanyl.
ICE went on to cite its work with the Mexican government to identify drug precursor from China, further suggesting that the labs were used for fentanyl, since China is a significant supplier of fentanyl precursor.
The government agency did not include any information on which cartel operated the labs, but they were located within the Sinaloa region, home of the Sinaloa Cartel, which was designated as a terrorist organization by the Trump Administration.
According to ICE, the partnership between U.S. and Mexican authorities is helping to prevent drugs from ending up in the U.S. by cutting off supplies at their source.
