The Sinaloa Cartel, also known as the Pacific Cartel, is one of the Mexican criminal organizations most closely followed by US authorities, as it is responsible for trafficking tons of drugs into the country, which is why operations have been carried out to stop the trafficking, one of which culminated in a mega-seizure of narcotics.
The Tempe Police Department and the DEA presented at a press conference in Phoenix, Arizona, more than four and a half million fake drug tablets mixed with fentanyl and at least 66 kilograms of fentanyl powder in what they announced as the beginning of a crusade against the Sinaloa Cartel.
But that was not the only thing seized; 138 kilos of cocaine, 35 kilos of heroin, 3,100 pounds of methamphetamines, 49 firearms, and two million dollars in cash were also seized.
Cheri Oz, DEA regional director for Arizona, said the seizures resulted from three-year investigations targeting the cartel now led by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. “We are laser-like focused on the Pacific Cartel and will defeat them. We will not stop.”
Part of this operation has resulted in the arrest of 150 people accused of working for the Sinaloa Cartel, which Oz blamed for most overdose deaths in Arizona. However, he also mentioned the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG) in a statement.
For her part, Arizona State Attorney Kris Mayes said the impact of fentanyl is now so great that “there are few families in our state, and across the country, that has not been touched in some way by the plague of the opioid epidemic.
The DEA has repeatedly said that fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat facing the United States and has blamed the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel for trafficking it. It added that it is mass-produced in secret labs in Mexico with chemicals supplied mostly from China. The cartels are making fake pills look like prescription drugs like oxyContin, hydrocodone, Percocet, Xanax, and Adderall.