Washington D.C. — U.S. security agents have confiscated more than 300,000 kilos of precursor chemicals used for the production of methamphetamine in what is now considered the largest seizure of its kind in the country's history.
The operation was conducted by the Homeland Security Investigations unit at the Port of Houston, where 12 containers from China were detected. The shipment was allegedly destined for clandestine laboratories operated by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
“These chemicals could have been used to produce almost 190,000 kilos of methamphetamine, with an estimated value of 569 million dollars,” stated U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanne Ferris Pirro, while presenting the case alongside the Department of Justice.
The seized chemicals include 164,880 kilos of benzyl alcohol and 151,560 kilos of N-methylformamide, two solvents commonly used in the manufacture of synthetic drugs. According to authorities, the seizure represents a hard blow to the supply chain of international drug trafficking by interrupting a critical route between Asia and Mexican cartels.
This confiscation occurs amid the strengthening of bilateral cooperation between Mexico and the U.S. on security and the fight against organized crime.
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