Fentanyl: Two Mexican cartels are driving the U.S. opioid crisis (2024)

International View

Illustration Anja Lemcke / NZZ

Mexican drug cartels have switched from trafficking heroin and cocaine to fentanyl, because it is easier and cheaper to make. Authorities are helpless to stop the flow while thousands continue to die from overdoses.

Nicole Anliker (text), Anja Lemcke (illustrations)

October 3, 2023 8 min

It is merciless, addictive in an instant, 50 times more potent than heroin, 100 times more potent than morphine, and deadly even in very small amounts: fentanyl. According to preliminary reports, more than 73,000 people died from fentanyl overdoses in the U.S. last year. That's almost twice as many as in 2019.

Two Mexican drug cartels are driving the fentanyl epidemic, illegally manufacturing the synthetic opioid on an industrial scale in their home country, and flooding the U.S. with it.

«Breaking Bad» in real life

The cartels operate their multimillion dollar business with simple infrastructure. Although they sometimes establish illegal laboratories in residential neighborhoods, they usually set up makeshift laboratories out in the open in remote areas. These labs are more reminiscent of a school camp kitchen than a professional drug factory.

A typical example is the Sinaloa cartel’s laboratory, which a team from the TV station Univision was able to visit in 2021. Canisters and tin pots were strewed underneath a tarp in the greenery between trees. In the middle of it all, three drug cooks in white protective suits and gas masks used Bunsen burners to mix the basic fentanyl product 4-piperidone with chemicals such as chlorine, acetone and caustic soda to form a paste. They then used a press to refine the mass, left it to dry and later processed it into powder or pills.

The drug cook interviewed in the TV report fits the common profile of a lay chemist. According to José Andrés Sumano Rodriguez, an expert on organized crime at Mexico's Colegio de la Frontera Norte, it is mainly young men between the ages of 20 and 35, mostly without education and from poor backgrounds, who pursue this occupation. They learn the craft from fellow cartel members who follow a recipe of sorts. Their motto: eyeballing instead of measuring cups. They have no control over how many micrograms of fentanyl one unit of consumption contains.

In the Univision report, the drug cook explained that he earned around $2,000 from the production of one to two kilos of fentanyl. That's how much he produces three to four times a month, he said. This coincides with the testimony of another drug cook, who told the Wall Street Journal that he was earning $2,500 a week. The income is good because the preparation of fentanyl is dangerous. Fatal chemical accidents or poisonings are common. There is also the risk of being caught by the authorities.

The fentanyl cooks tend to be on the payroll of the Sinaloa cartel or the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación. As confirmed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, these two giants in the Mexican underground control production and distribution of the deadly drug. To this end, they fight each other to the death over distribution routes, territories and sales markets.

Short production process

The cartels primarily import the chemicals for the production of fentanyl from China by air or water, with the lion's share reaching Mexico by ship. The main ports of entry are container ports on the Pacific coast, which are located in the areas respectively controlled by the two cartels. The Sinaloa cartel imports mainly through Mazatlán and Guaymas, while the CJNG uses Lázaro Cárdenas and Manzanillo.

Smuggling methods vary. The basic chemical products may be hidden with legal cargo imports and thrown overboard just before docking, where cartel members on fishing boats collect them. They are also imported using forged waybills or waved through by bribed customs officials. Corruption aside, the identification of illicit substances is fundamentally difficult given their diversity. In addition, the cartels also import precursors that are normally used to manufacture legal chemicals.

Once in the country, the cartels transport these chemicals to clandestine laboratories by land or air. How many of these laboratories exist is unknown. Between the inauguration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Dec. 1, 2018, and the end of June this year, security forces detected more than 1,740 such production facilities. Back in January, the U.S. Department of Defense stated that it had seized a good 1,000% more fentanyl during the current presidency than during the same period under the previous administration. This is due to the sharp increase in fentanyl production.

A decline is not expected. The cartels are now investing in the development of their own fentanyl precursor products, seeking to become independent of Asian imports. Leaked documents from the Mexican Ministry of Defense reveal that they have contracted chemists specifically for this purpose. According to an official communication from the same ministry, they are also paying for young cartel members to study pharmaceutical chemistry.

Transformation of organized crime

Fentanyl has transformed organized crime in Mexico. Along with methamphetamine, the synthetic drug has displaced plant-based narcotics such as marijuana, heroin and cocaine as these groups' primary source of funding. This is due to various reasons.

For one, the cartels have adapted to new market conditions. With the legalization of marijuana in a number of American states, one source of revenue for organized crime has dried up. In addition, demand for heroin in the U.S. has decreased, while the demand for synthetic drugs has increased. Many Mexican poppy farmers have lost their income and their fields now lie fallow. This is supported by statistics from the U.N. drug agency. The price of heroin has crashed.

Drug use trends began to change about 10 years ago. Starting in 2013, more and more Americans became addicted to the pharmaceutical painkiller fentanyl, which they could order online from China directly to their homes at the time. When Beijing, under pressure from the U.S., banned production and sale of the substance in 2019, Mexico's criminals sensed their opportunity. They made an agreement with Chinese chemical producers and have since been importing fentanyl ingredients for the illegal production of the opioid.

An indictment filed by the U.S. Justice Department in April of this year against several leading figures in the Sinaloa cartel reveals just how profitable the business really is. According to the indictment, the cartel pays an average of $800 for the basic chemical products used to produce one kilo of fentanyl. This corresponds to roughly 415,000 fentanyl pills, which they sell in New York for up to $3 each. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the gang collects 200 to 800 times the price it paid for the basic precursors. It earns up to $1.2 million on a kilo of fentanyl.

There are also tactical advantages. Marijuana and opium poppies, which produce the juice used to produce heroin, grow only in certain climates and depend on weather and harvest conditions. Their cultivation requires space and carries an increased risk of exposure.

Fentanyl, however, can be produced in just a few hours, at any time, in inconspicuous laboratories with few personnel. In the event of police detection, these labs can be abandoned without major losses and rebuilt elsewhere. Confiscated goods can be quickly and cheaply reproduced.

The smuggling of the substance is also relatively simple. This is shown by figures by the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking created by the U.S. Congress: According to their calculations, 3 to 5 tons of pure fentanyl is enough to satisfy the country's annual demand. That's less than one truckload. By comparison, an estimated 47 tons of heroin and 145 tons of cocaine were consumed in the country in 2016.

Fentanyl first tested on addicts in Mexico

According to organized crime expert Sumano Rodriguez, the border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego is where the most fentanyl enters the United States. The substance is smuggled to the other side by pedestrians, or is transported in passenger cars or vans with American license plates. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets sentencing guidelines, 86% of convicted fentanyl traffickers in 2021 were U.S. citizens. This is done for strategic reasons – their nationality apparently reduces their risk of being checked at the border.

Some drug cooks produce a colorful version of the opioid pills that looks like candy, and enters the U.S. packaged as such. Others transport the tablets disguised as the prescription painkiller oxycodone. In a 2022 DEA laboratory test, six out of 10 pirated drugs contained a potentially lethal dose – 379 million pills of this kind were seized in the U.S. last year. In theory, this would have been enough to kill the entire population. As little as two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose for a normal-weight adult.

According to the DEA, one reason for the high number of fentanyl victims is the fact that cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and MDMA are increasingly being stretched with the substance. Many Americans thus unknowingly consume the deadly drug. This approach is based on the cartels' desire to increase their profits. Fentanyl is cheaper than other drugs, causes a strong high even in small quantities, and is more addictive.

Experts agree that organized crime is using this method to drive up the number of addicts in order to ultimately increase its profits. According to the U.S. Justice Department, the potency of fentanyl pills is tested on drug addicts in Mexico. This is so the cartels are able to adjust their product. If their customers die from overdoses, it's bad for business.

Illustrations inspired by the Univision report on the subject.

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