Cartels Selling Fentanyl To Migrants, Locals In Northern Mexico

Cartels Selling Fentanyl To Migrants, Locals In Northern Mexico

Jennie Taer on April 7, 2022

As cartels continue to devastate American communities with fentanyl, they’re now finding more customers for the drug in northern Mexico, Noticias Telemundo reported.

Migrants and locals just south of the border, in areas like Tijuana, Mexico, are seeing more users on the streets turning to the drug, the report detailed.

“I know people who ended up in a vegetative state, a lot that died, so many that lost it all just because of fentanyl,” a man in Tijuana told Noticias Telemundo, according to Axios.

Fentanyl is a synthetic #opioid up to 50x stronger than heroin and 100x stronger than #morphine. Drugs may contain deadly amounts of fentanyl and you wouldn’t be able to see it, smell it, or taste it. Learn more: https://t.co/8s6JGP3E1i #StopOverdose #NDAFW pic.twitter.com/2GzymuZXTq

— SAMHSA (@samhsagov) March 22, 2022

Fentanyl is primarily produced in Mexico with the help of China, which provides the precursor chemicals to make it, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The potent synthetic opioid has ravaged communities north of the border as the country continues to see record drug overdose deaths with the last report showing that over a 12-month period ending in October 2021 it’s estimated that over 105,000 Americans died from drugs.

Mexican authorities lack data on fentanyl overdoses in Mexico, according to a report the government produced in 2021 that does show a significant increase in fentanyl users’ demand for treatment.

The area lacks a needed arsenal of Narcan, which is an antidote to many fentanyl overdoses, according to a local nongovernmental organization.