Mica translated from El Economista
The Plan the United States Brought to Mexico
At the meeting between the security cabinets of the U.S. and Mexico, last Thursday in Mexico City, Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, brought a very detailed plan to track chemical substances in Mexico. With this, Washington aims to counteract the trafficking of precursors used to manufacture fentanyl.
With this plan, both countries will recruit private companies to, along with government agencies from both sides, intensify raids to find and punish with maximum force those who produce and traffic drugs. Washington has already begun imposing sanctions against Chinese companies, which are the main source of several of these chemical substances. What we are seeing today is just the beginning.
Under this new scenario, Mexican officials pledged to work with the U.S., combating fentanyl trafficking, and for that, they will focus on controlling chemical precursors. The Americans say they aim to change the fact that Mexico continues… ‘Taking two steps forward… and one step back.’
The reason for American skepticism is based on facts. Since China banned the production of fentanyl and related substances in 2019, Mexican criminal organizations have largely taken control of the production and sale of the drug, smuggling fentanyl that ends up with consumers in the United States.
According to a 2022 report from the Congressional Budget Office, Mexican criminal organizations are now… ‘the source of the vast majority of illicit methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl seized in the United States.’
In the U.S. International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) published in March 2023, it reads; ‘Criminal elements, mainly in the People’s Republic of China, send chemical precursors to Mexico, where they are used to produce illicit fentanyl.’
Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, told a Senate committee in Washington earlier this year: ‘The only limit on the amount of fentanyl Mexican cartels can produce is the amount of chemical precursors they can obtain.’
Blinken’s Plan
There are measures that responsible chemical product sellers in China and Mexico will need to take to prevent their products from being used in the manufacture of illegal drugs.
Identity checks are a hallmark of accredited sellers:
• To sell chemicals not included in the list, a bona fide seller would typically inquire and verify the buyer’s intended use of the compound.
• Additionally, the buyer must confirm that they have the backing of a manufacturing company that has chemicals involved in the production of their final product.
• The same will have to be done by educational institutions, companies, research institutions, and even universities.
• U.S. buyers of regulated chemicals will continue to require licenses from the DEA, depending on the hazard of the handled products.
• Accredited sellers will also need to obtain tax identification, even for chemicals that are not controlled as precursor materials.
What the United States is trying to end
Today, there are ‘door-to-door’ precursor delivery services through warehouses in China and the United States. In Mexico, the Port of Manzanillo is the main receiver of Chinese precursors. Blinken’s plan proposes to change how chemical products from Asia are received at that port.
Fentanyl ‘Made in Mexico’
On national and local American television, there are frequently reports filmed in Mexican towns showing Mexicans mixing chemicals and ending up with a white powder they describe as fentanyl. There are numerous YouTube videos showing this. That’s why when Mexican officials deny that fentanyl is manufactured in Mexico, American officials think of the comedian Groucho Marx, who used to ask… ‘Who do you believe? Me… or your lying eyes?’
How Precursors for Making Fentanyl Are Purchased
To manufacture fentanyl, more than 25 different chemical compounds are required, some restricted, others are available to anyone worldwide. These chemicals have codes that everyone in this ‘business’ understands.
The two commonly used codes are:
“‘CAS 79099 Powder’ or simply ‘79099.’
The first of these compounds, ‘CAS 79099-07-3,’ is also known as ‘1-Boc-4-piperidone.’
As I just informed you, the sales of certain chemical compounds are so serious that they are internationally regulated with United Nations protocols. That is the main reason why the very indignant Chinese claim that they have always controlled chemical precursors. According to the spokespersons of their government, China complies with international agreements and international laws.
The reality is that the problem is very complicated because the other group of so-called ‘fentanyl precursors’ are common chemical substances that are not included in any list of prohibited chemicals in any country. With more than 25 products required, it’s evident that many have legitimate uses and can be found, for example, in commercial laboratories and even in academic institutions researching future medications.
I’m sharing all of this with you so that you can see that Secretary Blinken’s plan won’t be easy to implement. The partial solution is perfectly logical and welcome, but the complication still lies in the details.
Meanwhile, the Chinese use all these factors to now say that… ‘Government departments do not have the right or the ability to regulate common-use chemical products that are not included in the list of restricted chemicals.’
Clearly, for the Chinese, this is personal and even a result of what they interpret as Western racism. Remember that the ‘Opium Wars’ in the early 20th century marked the beginning of modern China’s history of humiliation. That’s what prompted the Chinese government in 1998 to declare its territory a ‘Prohibited Zone for International Drug Traffickers.’
That’s why drugs are heavily regulated in Chinese territory.
As a counterbalance, despite all their promises to comply with international laws and protocols, China is still happily selling precursors to those who will pay for them. And now, India is also getting into the same big business.
Regarding Mexico
The cartels, with the tons of money they have, hire the best financiers to hide and transport their profits from country to country. With that same financial power, they have hired professional chemists who have succeeded in creating compounds that are structurally very similar to regulated substances. These are the people who created fentanyl analogs; chemically similar substitutes that have made the crisis even deadlier in recent years.
According to reports from the U.S. government, these analog substances turned out to be 10,000 times stronger than morphine.
The Message Sent by Biden
It amuses me to hear the Mexican commentary saying that Biden sent his top secretaries to scold the Mexican president. They wonder what would move Washington to send all these ‘bigwigs’ to Mexico.
The simplest answer lies in the Bicentennial Agreement that Mexican officials often refer to. The agreement signed in 2021 stipulates that this level of members from both cabinets will meet alternately, at certain intervals, once in Mexico and once in Washington.
If there is a ‘secret message’ that the Americans brought to Mexico, it’s the one we all already know. Joe Biden needs Mexico’s help to contain the thousands of migrants because otherwise, he cannot get re-elected.
The other crucial message; Mexico needs to hand over the ‘Three Chapitos’ to the U.S.
In Mexico, we need to realize that American voters will never re-elect their president unless he first demonstrates to them… That those responsible for the over 100,000 American deaths from fentanyl are under prosecution and locked up in U.S. prisons.
That is the content of the plan that the U.S. brought to Mexico.”