Dec. 5 (UPI) — Authorities in Mexico have seized more than a ton of fentanyl pills in two operations, marking the country’s largest-ever seizure of the narcotic that has been fueling the ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States.
Omar Hamid Garcia Harfuch, Mexico’s public safety secretary, said in a statement that the seizures occurred in the state of Sinaloa, which is infamous for its connection to drugs and drug cartels.
Two people were arrested, and an undisclosed number of firearms were taken into police custody, he said.
“These actions will continue until the violence in the state of Sinaloa decreases,” he said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said during a press conference that the amount of drugs seized was valued at nearly $395 million.
“Think [about it]: the consumption of a person addicted to fentanyl over the course of a year is like a packet of sugar,” she said. “Then think about a ton of fentanyl. We are talking about more than 20 million doses.”
The announcement comes after President-elect Donald Trump vowed to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico unless it does more to curb illegal drugs, in particular fentanyl, and migrants entering the United States through their shared border.
The two leaders have spoken since Trump issued the threat last week, with the U.S. president-elect stating they had come to an agreement. Sheinbaum was quick to throw water on Trump’s assertion, however, by stating no change to Mexico’s policy on border enforcement had occurred.
She said they “discussed Mexico’s strategy on the migration phenomenon and I shared that caravans are not arriving at the northern border because they are being taken care of in Mexico.”
According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl 50 times stronger than heroin.
More than 107,500 drug overdose deaths were reported in the United States last year. Synthetic Opioids, in particular fentanyl, were involved in at least 74,700 of them, the CDC said.