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WORLD NEWS Saturday 19 September 2020

Mexico sees fentanyl seizures up 465%, denies making drug

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexi- targeting cartel production
can authorities say seizures and trafficking of fentanyl
of the synthetic opioid — the leading substance
fentanyl so far this year involved in drug overdose
are 465% higher than in deaths in the United States
2019, rising to almost 2,300 — and strengthen efforts
pounds (1,040 kilograms) targeting fentanyl precur-
from around 405 pounds ( sor chemicals overwhelm-
184 kilograms) last year, but ingly trafficked from China,
progress against another as well as fentanyl smug-
big Mexican export to the gling and production. "
U.S. market — metham- The U.S. report also says
phetamines — is slower. "More must also be done to
The Defense Department target the (Mexican) car-
said seizures of meth in tels' increasing production
Mexico rose by only 32.8% of methamphetamine."
between Jan. 1 and Sept. The amounts seized in Mex-
16, but busts of meth labs ico are large: authorities
dropped 51% compared have seized over 42,000
to the same period of last pounds (19,079 kilograms)
year. of meth so far this year,
In a similar pattern, Mex- which the Defense De-
ico's seizures of cocaine partment listed as a 32.8%
rose by 46%, but seizures increase over the 28,000
of key transport methods pounds (12,822 kilograms)
like boats and clandestine This undated photo provided on Jan. 24, 2020 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows some seized in the same period
landing strips were down of over 165 pounds (75 kilograms) of suspected methamphetamine seized after smugglers tried last year. The increase in
by 64% and 79%, respec- to float it across the border from Nogales, Mexico, by roping together dozens of packages and fact appears to be around
sending them through an underground drainage tunnel into Arizona, according to federal of-
tively. ficials. 50%.
Experts say increased secu- Associated Press Cocaine seizures in Mexico
rity and reduced traffic due rose by around the same
to the coronavirus pan- in the United States, and a and India and press it into it here, but fentanyl is not amount, hitting 44,000
demic may have made transit route for most of the ubiquitous blue tablets, produced." He said that pounds (20,069 kilograms)
shipments drugs easier to cocaine available in our and repeated Mexico's labs found in the northern so far this year, as com-
detect at the border, and country," the administration claim that there was "no state of Sinaloa last year pared to 30,000 pounds
partial border closures said in an annual report evidence" that there were had only pills presses and (13,766 kilograms) in the
have sometimes led traf- released this week. "More- any labs producing the opi- finished fentanyl powder, same period last year.
fickers to abandon ship- over, Mexican cartels take oid in Mexico. However, he but not chemical produc- Increasingly, Mexico has
ments before they even advantage of uneven pre- may have been referring tion facilities. discovered that traffickers
cross into the United States. cursor chemical controls to production of the drug That claim has been a sore are using multi-drug ship-
But the administration of in Mexico to manufacture from scratch; there is evi- point with the U.S. govern- ments, with many loads
President Donald Trump deadly drugs, such as fen- dence that Mexican car- ment. now including cocaine,
said earlier this week that tanyl, inside Mexico and tels import close precursor "The Mexican government meth, fetanyl pills and mari-
the United States remains smuggle them into the Unit- chemicals and perform the should acknowledge the juana.
concerned about Mexican ed States. Mexican drug final stages of processing. alarming trend of fentanyl Despite hopes that lock-
cartels' drug production interdictions remain far too "Fentanyl is not produced production inside its terri- downs during the coronavi-
and trafficking capacity, low in the face of these crit- here in our country," Cres- tory," according to the U.S. rus pandemic might reduce
and that Mexico must do ical drug threats." encio Sandoval said. "It Presidential Determination Mexico's gang-fueled vio-
more. Mexican Defense Secre- is put together here, the on Major Drug Transit or lence, those expectations
"Mexico remains the source tary Luis Cresencio Sando- product, the raw mate- Major Illicit Drug Producing have been shattered as
of nearly all heroin and val said Mexican traffickers rial, the powder arrives, Countries. "It must prioritize the number of homicides
methamphetamine seized import fentanyl from China and pills are made from law enforcement action remains stubbornly high.q

Flooding affects more than 1 million

across East Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Flooding has af- that saw eruptions of deadly intercommu-
fected well over a million people across nal violence this year.
East Africa, another calamity threatening People who fled the fighting now cling
food security on top of a historic locust to precarious positions, some piling mud
outbreak and the coronavirus pandemic. barriers around their homes. "They are ex-
The Nile River has hit its highest levels in a posed to malaria, waterborne diseases
half-century under heavy seasonal rainfall, and snakebites as floodwaters overwhelm
and large parts of Sudan, Ethiopia and their homes and farms," the medical char-
South Sudan have been swamped amid ity Doctors Without Borders says.
worries about climate change. The flooding further complicates efforts
As warnings of a new famine grow in South to deliver humanitarian aid in a country Flooding surrounds a house in Lenyari in the Greater Pibor Ad-
Sudan, the United Nations says flooding where more than half the population — ministrative Area, South Sudan Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020.
there has affected at least a half-million or over 6 million people — is said to be Associated Press
people, many in areas of Jonglei state hungry.q