The Mexican ambassador to the United States, Esteban Moctezuma, assured this Friday that the vast majority of fentanyl seized at the border is trafficked by US citizens and stressed that the “responsibility” to combat it lies with both countries.
“We are seeing that in 85% of the seizures at the border that have been made by the CBP (US Office of Customs and Border Protection) Those who transport the drugs are not migrants, they are American citizens“he said at a press conference in Washington together with the US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar.
Moctezuma said that both nations have the responsibility to combat it and vindicated the work that Mexico has done to stop the arrival to its territory of chemicals from Asia used for drug production.
He gave as an example the fact that the Navy is now in charge of the Mexican ports so that “there is greater control”, as well as the letter sent by the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, asking him to further collaboration.
“The results are in sight, that is, there has been a lot of increased seizure of substances related to methamphetamine production and also from fentanyl itself, which has come from outside,” he said.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that, according to Washington, is manufactured by Mexican cartels using chemicals from China and trafficked to the United States, where More than 70,000 people died last year from an overdose of this substance.
The Administration of Democrat Joe Biden has assured that Mexico should do more to stop this drug, but López Obrador has questioned whether fentanyl is produced in his country, despite the fact that his government has dismantled hundreds of clandestine laboratories for this substance.
At the press conference, the US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, explained that fentanyl “is a very difficult problem” for his country, which is why the US has launched a global coalition against this opioid, in the that Mexico has joined but China has declined to participate.
“We are working hard against fentanyl and we know that the United States and Mexico they have to include the participation of China because the forerunners come from there and we are working hard with that,” said.
The diplomat also claimed that the Biden government has responded to Mexico’s demand to stop US arms trafficking to the Latin American country.
“Regarding arms trafficking, we are at a very historic stage. What we are doing has never been done,” he opined, since the United States has approved a law to consider arms trafficking a “serious crime.”