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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | December 2006 
Mexico Police Seize 20 Tons of Meth Ingredient
 Reuters
| | The precursor and main ingredient of Methamphetamine is ephedrine. This chemical is contained in many legal drugs, including bronchodilators, like Vick's Inhalant, decongestants, like Nyquil Nighttime Cold Medications, diet pills, and therapeutic agents like Dioxin. While one or two empty bottles in the trash might indicate a bad cold or sinus problem, anything beyond that is a possible clue of lab activity. |
Mexican police seized a large shipment of a chemical used for making methamphetamine this week in a Pacific state at the center of a bloody war between traffickers producing the drug for U.S. markets.
Police in the port of Lazaro Cardenas in Michoacan state uncovered 20 tons of ephedrine, a major haul of the tightly controlled chemical, in a shipment from China disguised as another substance, Televisa news channel reported.
Michoacan is a key air and sea transshipment point for U.S.-bound cocaine, and mountains inland from the coast are increasingly riddled with methamphetamine labs producing the drug for export to the United States.
A turf war in the once tranquil state has left a trail of severed heads and corpses as criminal groups battle for control of production and trafficking routes.
The strategic port of Lazaro Cardenas is often the scene of deadly shootouts between drug-traffickers and authorities, and police and the navy were guarding the ephedrine haul in case anyone tried to reclaim it, Televisa reported.
Mexican producers of methamphetamine are muscling in on the U.S. market as police crack down on labs in the United States, according to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Justice's National Drug Intelligence Center.
Following the U.S. crackdown, so-called superlabs mass producing 'meth' have moved to Mexico, where precursor chemicals like ephedrine are more easily available, the report said.
Mexican president Felipe Calderon vowed to crack down on violent crime after taking office Friday, promising to rein in drug-traffickers who have turned parts of the country into war zones where police fear to tread. |
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