López Obrador also sought to deflect from Mexico’s role in the fentanyl epidemic. He cast it as an American problem and claimed that his country does not produce the substance, responsible for the majority of U.S. drug overdose deaths. U.S. law enforcement officials have said fentanyl is mass-produced by Mexican drug cartels and then distributed by American criminal networks, but Mexico has found few labs that manufacture the opioid.
More than 107,000 people in the United States died of a drug overdose in 2021, the highest recorded number, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two-thirds of the fatalities were caused by fentanyl, which can be prescribed by physicians to treat severe pain, though illegal, powerful tablets from Mexico are flooding across the border, The Washington Post has reported.
López Obrador has often criticized American officials, including then-President Donald Trump and, more recently, Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The Mexican leader is under immense domestic pressure over his attempt to overhaul an electoral institute that is seen as integral to its young democracy.
The verbal clash with GOP officials followed the kidnapping of four U.S. citizens last week, two of whom were killed. (On Thursday, Mexican authorities discovered five zip-tied men and an apology note, purportedly from a Gulf cartel that wanted to hand over the alleged perpetrators.)
While the kidnapping and killings were not directly related to the fentanyl issue, it provided the spark for Republicans to renew pressure on the Biden administration over what they see as lax enforcement of border and drug controls, as well as López Obrador.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (Tex.) this week again urged the Biden administration to initiate military action against cartels, while Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) demanded that U.S. forces “destroy drug labs,” though he added that the military should not forcibly enter Mexico.
At least two Republican senators have also introduced legislation that would designate drug cartels foreign terrorist groups, which proponents say would further curtail their room for maneuver. The White House said the federal government already has the powers it needs and has “not been afraid to use them.”
U.S. officials say they believe Mexico surpassed China as the top producer of U.S.-bound fentanyl in 2019, following a crackdown by Beijing on production of the opioid. Chinese companies continue to send chemicals to Mexico that are used to make fentanyl, U.S. officials say.
While seizures of fentanyl at the U.S. border have soared, Mexican officials have found few production labs. U.S. officials believe Chinese producers might be sending fentanyl powder, which is simply pressed into pills in Mexico, and often combined with other substances.
The Republican demand to designate cartels terrorist groups is not new. The Trump administration also considered the proposal in 2019, leading to intense pushback from Mexican authorities worried that the move would limit intergovernmental cooperation, causing a catastrophic impact on the economy and trade.
López Obrador came to power in 2018 pledging to end the U.S.-backed “war on drugs,” which he blamed for violence that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in recent years. He gave a more prominent role in the anti-narcotics effort to the army and sidelined the navy, which had worked closely with the Drug Enforcement Administration to take down drug kingpins. He also espoused a policy of “hugs, not bullets,” aimed at using social programs to lure young people from cartels.
More recently however, U.S. officials have increased pressure on López Obrador to crack down on fentanyl — and the Mexican government has stepped up its efforts. In mid-February, the Mexican government announced a major bust at a lab where soldiers found more than 600,000 pills suspected to contain fentanyl.
Sheridan reported from Mexico City.
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