Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum talks about fentanyl production after Trump threatens tariffs

Mexico is not the only source of fentanyl, Mexico’s 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 drug trafficking.

“Until now, we have not found that the precursors are arriving, because most of the precursors come from Asia, and the whole process is manufactured here in Mexico,” said President Claudia Sheinbaum. He added, “The laboratories that were dismantled in our country were mainly for methamphetamine or crystal meth.”

Sheinbaum stressed that her government is committed to combating the illegal distribution of drugs. In recent weeks, Mexican authorities have announced several major seizures of fentanyl — a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin — as well as its chemical precursors. Officials said last month that the seizure of more than a ton of fentanyl pills was the case 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 January 20He said he intends to impose 25% tariffs on Mexican exports if the country fails to contain drug and migrant flows.

the US Drug Enforcement Administration He says Mexican cartels are “at the heart” of the synthetic drug 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 laboratories in Mexico,” it said in its 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment.

The DEA said the cartel “has been producing large quantities of fentanyl since at least 2012.”

Outgoing US Ambassador Ken Salazar said at a news conference on Monday that he had no doubt that the drug was manufactured in Mexico.

“I know what’s going on, that the fentanyl is in Mexico, and I also know that it’s being produced here,” he said.

In a 2024 interview with “60 Minutes,” the former Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez He echoed Sheinbaum’s position.

“Fentanyl is produced in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The precursor chemicals come from Asia,” Manuel Lopez said.