Mexico seizes record fentanyl haul after Trump's tariff threat

Mexican troops have seized a record amount of fentanyl pills in the northern state of Sinaloa, equivalent to more than 20 million doses of the drug.

Speaking at a morning press conference on Wednesday, Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the haul had a street value of almost $400 million (€380m).

The mass seizure of the synthetic opioid, which Sheinbaum described as the largest in the country’s history, follows US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico and Canada, unless its leaders curb the flow of drugs and migrants into the US.

Late on Tuesday, soldiers and marines in Sinaloa, a hotspot for fentanyl manufacturing, spotted two men with guns, according to the Mexican authorities.

After chasing the men into two houses, the troops discovered 300 kilogrammes of fentanyl in one and a truck with 800 kilogrammes of fentanyl in the other.

Two men were arrested and several guns were seized, the authorities said.

Security analyst David Saucedo said the timing of the fentanyl bust was no coincidence.

"It is clear that the Mexican government has been managing the timing of fentanyl seizures," he said. “But under the pressure by Donald Trump, it appears President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration is willing to increase the capture of drug traffickers and drug seizures that Washington is demanding."

Saucedo warned that fentanyl operations of this type would do little to stop the production of the drug, which is made with precursor chemicals, largely imported from China.

"It's a very, very big seizure," he said. "But if they don't dismantle the labs, this kind of production will continue."

Before the latest drug bust, fentanyl seizures in Mexico this year had been low,