Over one million fentanyl pills seized in Mexico – minister

Handout digitally altered picture released by the Mexican Navy on December 3, 2024, shows a seized truck with alleged fentanyl pills at an undisclosed location in Sinaloa State, Mexico. Agence France-Presse

MEXICO CITY — Mexico, which has been threatened with steep tariffs by US President-elect Donald Trump if it does not curb fentanyl trafficking into the United States, has announced a record haul of more than one million fentanyl pills.

“The largest seizure of fentanyl in history has been carried out. More than a ton of fentanyl pills, two men arrested, and firearms seized,” Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch wrote late Tuesday on X.

The minister said the pills were seized in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, where a succession war in one of the world’s biggest drug cartels has left hundreds of people dead in three months.

READ: Mexico ‘champion’ of synthetic drug production, official says

The announcement of the drug seizure comes days after Trump warned he would slap tariffs of 25 percent on Mexican imports unless it halted the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants into the United States.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin, has been linked to tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the United States.

READ: Mexico suggests to impose own tariffs to retaliate vs Trump tariffs

Mexico is one of the main trafficking routes for the drug and for the chemicals to manufacture it, most of which come from China.

Trump has also threatened tariff hikes on Canada and China over illegal migration and their alleged role in the US opioid crisis.