(NewsNation) — In recent years the U.S. government has urged Mexico to intensify efforts against fentanyl trafficking and labs across the country. However, Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, co-chairman of the Senate’s International Narcotics Control Caucus, argues that Mexico is “fighting an imagery war on drugs,” and new data suggests there may be substance to his claim.
Fentanyl labs that were not in operation accounted for 95% of seizures by Mexican authorities this year, according to Mexico Defense Ministry data obtained by Reuters. Out of 527 labs raided by the defense ministry in the first seven months, only 24 labs, or less than 5%, were active.
The data suggests that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration has bolstered the number of raided labs but may have inflated seizure numbers by including hundreds of inactive labs.
During the period from December 2018 to August 2023, inactive labs compromised 89% of the raids conducted by Mexican officials, Reuters found.
Earlier this year, Obrador admitted that criminal organizations in Asia were bringing synthetic drugs into Mexico. However, he maintains that fentanyl is a U.S. problem and asserts that Mexico neither consumes nor produces the deadly drug.
In August alone, Mexican authorities reported discovering 37 where fentanyl was pressed into pills. Those sites were absent from Mexican military data, aligning with the country’s latest statement that fentanyl production doesn’t take place within its borders.
President Joe Biden and Obrador met in California last month to discuss the threat of fentanyl exposure and explore ways to enhance cooperation between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement. However, the effectiveness of these measures remains to be seen.