Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed a recent series of New York Times reports about fentanyl production in Sinaloa, calling the stories “not very believable.” The reports, titled “This is What Makes Us Rich: Inside a Sinaloa Cartel Lab” and “How Mexican Cartels Test Fentanyl on Vulnerable People and Animals,” were published one day earlier.
Regarding the first New York Times report on Mexican cartel lab operations that included photographs purported to have been taken inside a fentanyl lab in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Sheinbaum in Spanish told reporters on Monday at Mexico’s National Palace press conference, “It’s not very believable, let’s put it that way, fentanyl is produced in other ways.”
Sheinbaum said the photos presented, which included a man mixing chemicals on a kitchen stove wearing a cloth face covering, were not believable as they did not address the health risks to persons who “cook” these drugs. Sheinbaum promised to “scientifically demonstrate” that the reports were not believable as she responded to a reporter’s question regarding the New York Times reports.
The reports were written by Natalie Kitroeff and Paulina Villegas on location in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. One report described methods of testing fentanyl that involved injecting the drug into members of a homeless community who were paid, in one case, $30 USD to willingly participate in the trial to gauge potency, according to one testing subject. Other methods of testing described in the report included testing on chickens and rabbits.
The New York Times responded to Sheinbaum’s critique of the reports in a Spanish language posting on X (formerly Twitter), saying:
The New York Times is completely confident in our reporting on the production and testing of fentanyl in Mexico. Our reporters spent months investigating the fentanyl industry, quoted current and former Mexican officials on the record about the production and testing of fentanyl in the country, and documented a fentanyl lab in Sinaloa. We stand by the reporting fully.
Sheinbaum did not address any other issues relative to the current conditions in Sinaloa during her critique of the New York Times reports. As reported by Breitbart Texas, turf battles in the beleaguered Mexican state led to the killing or forced abductions of thousands in recent months. Cartel gunmen engaged in large-scale shootouts, set multiple businesses on fire with patrons inside, and engaged in carjackings and other terror-style tactics, making life extremely difficult for ordinary citizens in Sinaloa.
Sheinbaum’s presidency follows the six-year presidential term of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), who left behind the legacy of the highest number of homicides recorded under any presidential term since the Mexican Revolution. The record 191,600 murders during his presidency proved the “Abrazos, no balazos” or “Hugs, not bullets” approach to dealing with violent drug cartels failed miserably.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
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