According to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration report, the biggest threat is the Sinaloa cartel; heroin overdose deaths tripled in the U.S. between 2008 and 2015….

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the United States declared that Mexico is the “primary source” of heroin for the U.S. black market, with an increasing poppy cultivation which has tripled in the last three years.

According to the National Drug Threat Assessment Summary, the DEA blames the significant
increase in production on the decrease of poppy elds eradication in Mexican territory, as well as the focus of the cartels on heroin tracking.

Seized drugs at the northern border – Photo: Gaston Monge/EL UNIVERSAL

The report details there are six drug cartels who have a presence and impact in several areas of the United States: the Sinaloa cartel – that used to be led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is currently imprisoned in New York.

Other major drug cartels such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel; the Juárez Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas Cartel, and the Beltrán-Leyva Organization.

According to a DEA report,  poppy cultivation reached 32,000 hectares in Mexico during 2016, which resulted in a production of 81 metric tons of heroin. Three years earlier, the cultivation only allowed the production of 26 metric tons.

The report details that in 2015, 93% of the heroin seized and analyzed by the DEA came from Mexico.

“The increase in heroin production in Mexico has ensured a reliable supply of low-cost heroin,” explains the DEA.

They stress that the heroin consumed in the U.S. is pure, low-cost, and mixed with fentanyl – a known synthetic opioid developed to serve as a painkiller.

For the United States, this is a matter of great concern, given the drug crisis they’re undergoing.

Between 2008 and 2015, the number of deaths from heroin overdose in this country have tripled, reaching almost 13, 000.

American President Donald Trump has declared the opioid epidemic and the controlled prescription drug overdose a ”national emergency”.

Mexican cartels remain the most important drug trafficking threat to the U.S. and their influence
over that territory is expanding. According to the report, “no other groups are currently positioned to challenge” Mexican drug cartel organizations.

Furthermore, the report states Mexican cartels dominate the heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and “to a lesser extent”, fentanyl markets.

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Source: eluniversal.com.mx

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