Mexico seizes record fentanyl haul after Trump's tariff threat

Mexican troops have seized a record amount of fentanyl pills in the northern state of Sinaloa, equivalent to more than 20 million doses of the drug.

Speaking at a morning press conference on Wednesday, Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the haul had a street value of almost $400 million (€380m).

The mass seizure of the synthetic opioid, which Sheinbaum described as the largest in the country’s history, follows US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico and Canada, unless its leaders curb the flow of drugs and migrants into the US.

Late on Tuesday, soldiers and marines in Sinaloa, a hotspot for fentanyl manufacturing, spotted two men with guns, according to the Mexican authorities.

After chasing the men into two houses, the troops discovered 300 kilogrammes of fentanyl in one and a truck with 800 kilogrammes of fentanyl in the other.

Two men were arrested and several guns were seized, the authorities said.

Security analyst David Saucedo said the timing of the fentanyl bust was no coincidence.

"It is clear that the Mexican government has been managing the timing of fentanyl seizures," he said. “But under the pressure by Donald Trump, it appears President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration is willing to increase the capture of drug traffickers and drug seizures that Washington is demanding."

Saucedo warned that fentanyl operations of this type would do little to stop the production of the drug, which is made with precursor chemicals, largely imported from China.

"It's a very, very big seizure," he said. "But if they don't dismantle the labs, this kind of production will continue."

Before the latest drug bust, fentanyl seizures in Mexico this year had been low, with only 130 kilogrammes seized across the country between January and June, far less than the 2,329 kilogrammes captured in 2023.

Seizures of the synthetic opioid, which is thought to cause 70,000 overdose deaths each year in the US, have been on the rise in America.

At the start of July, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discovered 4 million blue fentanyl pills in a pick-up truck in Arizona. The CBP said it was the largest mass seizure in its history.

In recent days, Canada and Mexico have scrambled to avoid the tariffs Trump has said he will impose shortly after he begins his second presidential term in January.

In a post on his Truth Social site in November, Trump claimed the two countries had the power to stop the flow of drugs such as fentanyl into the US.

"Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power," Trump continued, "and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!"

As a result of these threats, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled last week to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida residence, to have dinner with the US President-elect. The meeting was "very productive", Trump said.