According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, criminal groups export the chemicals from China to Mexico where they are used to produce fentanyl, which is smuggled across the US border.
Mexico is set to provide China with evidence of smuggling of illegal fentanyl shipments from the Asian country to Mexican drug cartels, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced Friday, after Beijing denied the existence of any such smuggling.
The Mexican president said that a container had recently arrived from China to Mexico containing this industrial opioid, which is responsible for hundreds of overdose deaths every day in the United States.
“We have evidence” of this, added Lopez Obrador, who in March sent a letter to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping asking him to help curb fentanyl flows.
China’s foreign ministry said in response that there was no illegal smuggling of fentanyl between the two countries.
Andres López Obrador noted during his daily press conference that Mexico will “respectfully” ask China to inform it when the smuggled goods leave its ports and seize them if possible.
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, criminal groups export the chemicals from China to Mexico, where they are used to produce fentanyl, which is smuggled across the US border.
For its part, Mexico denied that fentanyl was manufactured on its territory. Last month, the US Department of Justice designated two Chinese companies for sanctions for allegedly selling chemical ingredients to the Sinaloa cartel to produce fentanyl.