US Makes Record Seizure of Meth Precursors Bound for Sinaloa Cartel
US authorities have intercepted what they describe as the largest shipment of methamphetamine precursor chemicals ever seized, disrupting a supply chain that linked China to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel.
The Department of Justice announced Wednesday that more than 700,000 pounds (about 300,000 kilograms) of chemicals used in meth production were confiscated.
The substances were packed in 13,000 blue barrels shipped from Shanghai and intercepted while en route to Mexico.
“This represents the single biggest seizure of chemicals intended for methamphetamine production in the nation’s history,” said Jeanine Pirro, US Attorney for the District of Columbia,
speaking at the Port of Houston, Texas, where the cargo was moved after interception at sea. Officials said the chemicals were enough to produce an estimated 420,000 pounds of meth, with a potential street value of $569 million in Houston alone.
The operation was carried out with the help of international partners, who worked with US agencies to divert the cargo to Panama before it was transported to Texas, according to Todd Lyons, acting head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Federal authorities credited the Trump administration’s decision to label the Sinaloa Cartel a foreign terrorist organization for giving investigators the authority to track precursor chemicals before they reached American shores.
Pirro accused Chinese suppliers of fueling the crisis: “Every day, massive quantities of chemicals needed to make synthetic drugs are shipped from China to Mexico. This is part of China’s undeclared war on America and its citizens.”
The seizure comes as drug overdoses remain the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45, underscoring the scale of the meth and fentanyl epidemics.
The announcement follows a week of escalated US action against drug traffickers. A day earlier, President Trump disclosed that American forces had sunk a suspected smuggling vessel off Venezuela, killing 11 people he described as “narcoterrorists.”
Punch
