Sinaloa Cartel Fentanyl Cooks Captured in Northern Mexico

Two fentanyl cooks operating a pill manufacturing plant for the Sinaloa Cartel were captured by security elements.

Mexico City announced the dismantling of an active lab last Wednesday by elements of the army, federal police, and investigative personnel with the attorney general’s (FGR) office after a raid at a residence in the northwest section of Culiacán, Sinaloa. The two cooks were identified as Abel “N” aka “El Cubano” and Carmen “N,” Abel’s wife. Both were identified as Cuban nationals.

Investigative personnel raided the residence after intelligence was developed about an active fentanyl lab operating at the location. Investigators discovered 2,500 pills and a press to mass-produce blue M-30s. Abel and Carmen were also tasked with training other cooks for the cartel, according to investigators.

Both detainees were turned over to investigative personnel for a determination of charges. The production and distribution of deadly fentanyl pills has become very lucrative for the Sinaloa Cartel and other organizations operating in Mexico due to easily available precursors and established trafficking routes to the U.S.

Breitbart Texas previously reported on significant fentanyl seizures related to the Sinaloa Cartel. In April, Mexican federal investigators discovered an active lab and seized 33,000 pills and 25 pounds of powder in Culiacán. Also in April, the Mexican Army and state police seized 12,260 pills during security operations a checkpoint in Sonora.

Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin is blamed for contributing to the deadly opioid crisis in the United States.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com