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on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Thursday, February 16, 2023

Army Destroys Massive Sinaloa Cartel Synthetic Drug Lab Outside Culiacán

 By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

The Mexican army seized a large methamphetamine and fentanyl producing drug lab in Pueblos Unidos, a small town near Culiacán, Sinaloa, on February 14, 2023.  The state of Sinaloa, controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel, is the epicenter of synthetic drug production in Mexico, reveals government data.



According to the Secretary of Defense press release, the lab was found in the countryside outside Pueblos Unidos by the army while investigating organized crime in the region.

"It is the second largest laboratory we have found and destroyed ever", said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at the daily briefing on Monday.

A video shown at the daily briefing shows several tables set up inside a building with what appears to be piles of granulated fentanyl in the middle of the production process.

Drugs Seized

128.03 kg granulated fentanyl

629,138 likely fentanyl pills, weighing 68.576 kg

100 kg of meth

Precursor chemicals used to create drugs

750 kg Tartaric acid

275 kg Mannitol

225 kg Caustic Soda

28 Chemical Synthesis Reactors (lab equipment)

Based on the quantity of Chemical Synthesis Reactors, the Secretary of Defense press release claims this is the clandestine laboratory with the largest production capability found in the current administration. 

Borderland Beat Analysis 

Decreasing fentanyl production and traffic into the United States is a top priority for the US government. Just yesterday in a Senate hearing, DEA director Anne Milgram said that the DEA is unhappy with Mexico's cooperation in stopping the flow of fentanyl. In addition, the US is struggling to engage with China, the source nation for many precursor chemicals used to produce meth and fentanyl, said Todd Robinson, the Assistant Secretary to the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

According to Mexico's Secretariat of Defense, 1,164 clandestine laboratories have been found by the Military in Mexico since the beginning of the López Obrador administration. 

There is no official breakdown by state, but a Military press release on drug labs in Sinaloa reported that there were 780 clandestine labs found in the state since the start of the López Obrador administration up until July 2022, meaning that even lacking 8 months of drub lab seizure data from Sinaloa, this one state counts for at least 67% of all drug labs found nationally. Again, this percentage would increase drastically if these months would be added.

The state of Sinaloa is firmly under control of the Sinaloa Cartel, which is split into two factions, one led by the sons of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, commonly called "Los Chapitos", and the other led by Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. This particular area, around the town of Pueblos Unidos, is controlled by El Mayo's faction.

The data showing a heavy concentration of drug labs in the territory of the Sinaloa Cartel lends credence to what many journalists and experts say; the Sinaloa Cartel are the main producers of synthetic drugs in Mexico for transport into the United States. Facilitated by both easy access to precursor chemicals from Asia by sea, and extensive control over the Sinaloa countryside, both factions are able to construct hundreds of low cost clandestine labs.

This fentanyl is entirely for the international market. As journalist Ioan Grillo writes, the sale of fentanyl inside the state of Sinaloa is banned by the Sinaloa Cartel, due to the immense harm it causes. 

Sources: 

SEDENA Press Release

PBS Newshour

SEDENA Operaciones contra el Narcotráfico

SEDENA July 16, 2022 Press Release

Ioan Grillo Substack

Images: InfoBae

Tovar Manuel Twitter

51 comments:

  1. This is a chapitos lab

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The lab is in Pueblos Unidos. That's Mayo territory.

      Delete
    2. From my understanding hwy 15 east is Mayo and to the west of the hwy is chapos. I go to el tule often and thats coming from the punteros. So pueblos unidos is east of hwy 15 so that would be mayos territory

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    3. 12:48 which hwy; libre or carretera. Pueblos unidos is between both 15s. Anyway PU is MZ from what I understand, very close to el salado.

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    4. Stand out on the street with a tshirt that says CJNG and you’ll figure out who’s it is

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    5. Hitchhiking with the CJNG shirt

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    6. I can't believe they counted the fentanyl pills. That's a lot of counting....629,138

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    7. Do anyone know what the caustic soda is used for? I thought this chemical was strictly for cocaine and explosives and candles and shit

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    8. 4:20 is correct and anything north of chiqueritos is mayos faction and south after that it’s the people from La Cruz which is Chapitos that’s where the divider is…

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    9. 909 To get a good avg. Place 10 on scale. Get weight. Divide by 10. Then you get that number and divide it by the seized amount. I know you can generally weight 1 and go from there but doing the 10 count weight is better since not all are perfect.

      Delete
  2. SEDENA wishing Mayo a happy Valentine's Day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am wishing YOU a happy valentines day mr Detroit. A big sloppy, wet, sicario kiss for you

      Delete
  3. Time for the USA to start producing Fentanyl and flood the Sinaloa streets with it since they say it’s banned there. Kinda like we do with guns already.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nobody will touch since it's banned. Duh.

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    2. 11:16 Only the most desperate use fent

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    3. And by desperate I mean Americans/Canadians who want opioids but have access to nothing else

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    4. 11:16 already doing it. Fentanyl labs are all over Cali and Arizona and Oregon. Some real white trailer trash nascar shit

      All you need is 4ANPP or it’s ethyl or phenethyl derivative for precursor to make fentanyl, acytlefentanyl , furanylfentanyl, phenethylfentanyl

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    5. Interestingly their makeshift laboratory is semi-professional in appearance and similar to mega labs in China but done Mexican Clandestine instead

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    6. 6:35 you can bet the Chinese taught the Mexicans

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    7. 11:16 Mexico has legal ibogaine clinics though

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  4. Where's Ivan? In the mountains bathing in a stream? No he's in Sinaloa; his base of power. He's not far from Culiacan and I bet that the military knows where.

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    Replies
    1. Pueblos unidos Is Mayo’s territory.

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    2. 11:23 do tell, where is Ivan pricisely

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    3. 416 Ivan is over confident. A little more than Alfredo. I saw Ivan at Lucerna one time. He was with close friends Panu. 1 more. No bodyguards with him leaving Lucerna but there was 3 vehicles parked next to his car and Muni Police by Cayene Rest, Starbucks across the street next to Cabana, Hotel One, Oxxo and up the ramp to la Obregon. Really not a big deal seeing these figures

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    4. @416 — Ivan was at a cheap ass hotel in Sonora? Lol ok man

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    5. 1137 You clearly have no experience and are incompetent. La "obregon" is a one way main street from El malecon.

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    6. I stayed at that Lucerna in Tres Roos right on the river

      It was or is the nicest spot in Culiacan you can tell people roll through there all the time

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    7. J, that steakhouse next door is fire. We had Tomahawks there. Real good and genuine attentive service.

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  5. CDS bitch ass cheerleaders: "why don't they ever destroy CJNG labs?".
    "Why are they only busting CDS shit?"
    Hahahah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. President Biden
      Requested Elmo do something about fentanyl labs, he is supposed to be going not only after Sinaloa Cartel, but other Cartels that are in the production, transportation illegally to the USA.

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    2. 12:32 I think CJNG has been slowly backing away from the fent trade

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    3. Hardly ever see CJNG labs.

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    4. Cjng have no labs they are busy extorting

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    5. Jalisco’s serve m30s, meth and coke openly where I’m at but according to these dummies they just extort 😂.

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    6. 02:40 no H? I got H? I’m going on vacation soon and I want to fly wherever has clean H and cocktails with little umbrellas

      Delete
    7. 12:54 that's funny brother but doubtful

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    8. @1:08 is clearly 15 year old Chapo snitched kid

      Get a life, son. There’s plenty out there outside of mama’s basement..

      Delete
  6. That’s a Tapia bust . I don’t think you guys realize how big he was

    ReplyDelete
  7. Replies
    1. CDS is defunct and doesn't really exist anymore
      Memory eternal. 🇲🇽👌🏽

      Delete
  8. Another good political gift. As no mention of arrests.. hey. Compa. They re raiding your place let them have it tell your people to leave. Wowwww. Great job. This war on drugs is actually real.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This looks like the start of a snitching war between mayo's and chapito's factions 🤣🤣🤣🤣

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How old are you? Aren’t you too young to be on here??

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    2. 11:34 why you get ofended? Are you a CDS cheerleader?

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    3. I was thinking the same thing.

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  10. One down, 544 to go….

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  11. I don’t want to sound like a new chemistry class attendant, and I love and have been reading here for a long time. That said, a couple of questions: (1) are the ingredients used (including precursors) of a high quality and stable nature, and how do they deal with effluents such as gases and liquids, e.g., chemical hoods and PPE, vent hoods, intakes, etc.; and (2) how well trained are the employees in the manufacturing processes—do some have degrees, do some come on as apprentices and learn the trade to become a master? Also curious, how much do employees make and are they penalized or awarded bonuses for bad or excellent. I am an old gringo with a chemical degree who might visit MX if the price is right. Always looking for a challenge but I’ll need indoor plumbing. Gracias amigos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you’re a chemist then make something actually worthwhile like oxycodone dumbass.. I know you’re half joking but why tf would you ever agree to make such bullshit of your own free will.

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  12. All this is for looks and to say see we are fighting the war on drugs, dog and pony show for the believers in the Mexican justice system,.. I frequent mexico a lot and you can't trust the feds what so ever, the only way to survive is by 1.wit, 2. Shut the fuck up, 3. Even if you think you saw deny and say no not here did not see a thing, 4. Don't get involved ...

    ReplyDelete

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