Arr, the landlubber army of Mexico be facin' critique, for settin' their sights on empty drug dens, arr!
2023-12-21
Arrr! 'Tis said the scurvy Mexican army be hardly pillaging a handful o' drug labs each moon, despite fierce U.S. persuasion to battle the nefarious fentanyl trade. Recent reckonin' be showin' this, matey!
Mexico's army is reportedly only raiding a small number of active drug labs each month, despite pressure from the United States to crack down on fentanyl trafficking. According to figures obtained by Reuters, 95% of seizures this year have been from facilities that were already out of use. This revelation comes after it was previously reported in March that Mexico had included inactive labs in its seizures list, but it was unclear how many of the labs were operational when raided.The data obtained from the Mexican Defense Ministry (SEDENA) shows that out of the 527 labs raided in the first seven months of this year, only 24 were active. This pattern has remained consistent throughout President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's administration, with inactive labs accounting for 89% of raids from December 2018 to August 2021.
The Biden Administration has made it a priority to stop the flow of illicit fentanyl from Mexico, but the inclusion of inactive labs in Mexico's seizures list has inflated Lopez Obrador's record. Guillermo Valdes, Mexico's former civilian spy chief, criticized SEDENA for altering the figures, stating that it damages their credibility.
Despite the pressure from the United States, Mexico has maintained that no fentanyl is being synthesized on its soil and that the drug is brought over by cartels from Asia. However, this contradicts the findings of the August dataset, which did not report any fentanyl labs.
The reporting of lab raids by SEDENA has been inconsistent in recent years, with frequent modifications in the total numbers of labs raided. The inclusion of inactive labs in the seizures list raises questions about the effectiveness of Mexico's efforts to combat fentanyl production and trafficking.
Traffickers have claimed that collusion between cartels and army figures leads to the discovery of inactive labs. They allege that cartels give up drugs and locations of labs to friendly soldiers in exchange for cooperation over military operations.
Overall, the data suggests that Mexico's efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking may be more about political points than saving lives. The discrepancies in the reporting of lab raids and the involvement of cartel figures raise concerns about the effectiveness of Mexico's security strategy.