Authorities Raid Pharmacies For Fentanyl-Laced Pills In A Popular Tourist Destination For Americans

Mexican authorities raided several pharmacies in popular tourist destinations last month for fentanyl-laced pills, according to the Los Angeles Times.

An LA Times investigation found that some pharmacies in northwest Mexico, including in places such as Cabo San Lucas and Tijuana, sold what appeared to be Adderall, Xanax and Oxycodone pills that were actually laced with fentanyl. Authorities seized roughly 25,000 pills, which contained unauthorized controlled substances and no fentanyl or methamphetamine, as a result of the recent operation, according to the LA Times, citing a statement from Alejandro Torres Pineda, a delegate of the attorney general’s office in Baja California Sur.

“We’re continuing the investigations,” Pineda said in a phone interview last week with the LA Times, adding that the seizures were important “because the sale of controlled medicines is inhibited, the health of citizens is protected and the type of medicines sold in pharmacies is controlled.”

Federal authorities in Mexico interviewed people at different pharmacies in Los Cabos ahead of the raid, finding a customer with unregulated pills, according to the LA Times. A judge subsequently granted authorities permission to conduct raids of area pharmacies, which occurred at five different locations during the month of June.

The recent raids resulted in the confiscation of thousands of dollars in cash, the arrests of three pharmacy employees and one business owner, according to the LA Times.

“In terms of security, the work coordinated by three levels of government is yielding good results, with the aim of guaranteeing the safety of locals and visitors,” the municipal director of public safety in Los Cabos, Jesús Antonio Gómez Rodríguez, said, according to the LA Times. “It’s protecting the health of our young people who can fall into the clutches of drugs, as well as the numerous groups of visitors who come to our municipality to enjoy its natural beauties and tourist services.”

Illicit fentanyl is largely responsible for the more than 100,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2021. The synthetic drug is mainly produced by cartels in Mexico with precursor chemicals from China, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“It’s not going to stop,” Mary Harrell, whose son died after taking a fentanyl-laced pill he brought from a pharmacy in Cabo San Lucas, said of Mexico’s actions that she wished happened sooner. “If it were a real cleanup you’d have the president going after it — but you don’t.”