MEXICO CITY – The head of the drug policy of the US Department of State, Todd Robinson, said Wednesday in Mexico that both countries are more ambitious in the fight against fentanyl.
“We have to think big, we are more ambitious,” he said at the inauguration of the “Synthetic Drugs Conference in the United States and Mexico”, which was also accompanied by the US ambassador to the country, Ken Salazar; and the Secretary of Mexican Security, Rosa Icela Rodríguez.
In the event, officials highlighted the need for greater joint efforts against the serious fentanyl crisis, which has caused more than 100,000 deaths in the United States by 2022.
Despite this, there is tension between the two countries due to cartels trading in this illegal substance.
“Today we meet in the middle of a shift in the original supply of drugs. “Although the era of plant-based drugs like cocaine is not over, the production of synthetic drugs is on the rise,” Robinson said.
In this sense, he recognized a huge challenge to fight against the trafficking and production of fentanyl, since it is produced with chemicals that are easy to hide, powerful in small doses, and can also be bought and sold. social networks.
He also asserted that deaths in Mexico are on the rise, so both governments have committed to making joint decisions.
For the country it represents, the goal is to reduce the number of deaths by 13% by 2025.
Robinson recalled that this month, both sides will increase efforts to prosecute drug traffickers and dismantle criminal networks, which is why, he said, the bicentennial agreement’s plan of action, which seeks to curb drug trafficking in the country, is key.
“This framework is important to continue protecting the lives of Mexicans and Americans,” he concluded.
POLEMIC
The conversation comes amid growing tension between Mexico and the United States over cartels, particularly the fentanyl trade.
The controversy comes after the kidnapping of four Americans and the killing of two of them this month at the border between the two countries, which has prompted Republicans in the United States to consider the cartels terrorist.
On this day, the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated that only a quarter of 25% of the fentanyl traffic in the United States comes from Mexico, while the rest comes from other North American countries.
This is before the accusations of the Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who proposed to declare war on the Mexican cartels and designating them as terrorist groups in the face of the fentanyl trade.
