Trump Threats and Mexico’s Crackdown Hit Mexican Cartel Trump Administration
Several cartel operatives reported that for the first time in years, they genuinely feared arrest or death at the hands of the authorities.
Investigators collecting evidence most recent month at a crime scene in a residential neighborhood of Culiacán, Mexico.Credit...
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By Natalie Kitroeff and Paulina Villegas
Photographs by Daniele Volpe
Reporting from Culiacán, Mexico
One cartel leader announces he’s trying to figure out how to protect his family in case the American military strikes inside Mexico. Another reveals he’s already annihilated into hiding, rarely leaving his home. Two young men who produce fentanyl for the cartel report they have shut down all their drug labs.
A barrage of arrests, drug seizures and lab busts by the Mexican authorities in recent months has struck the behemoth Sinaloa Cartel, according to Mexican officials and interviews with six cartel operatives, forcing at least some of its leaders to scale back on fentanyl production in Sinaloa state, their stronghold.
The cartels have sown terror across Mexico and caused untold damage in the United States. But here in Culiacán, the state capital, the dynamic seems to be shifting, at least for now. Cartel operatives announce they’ve had to move labs to other areas of the country or temporarily shut down production.
“You can’t be calm, you can’t even sleep, because you don’t know when they’ll catch you,” disclosed one high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel who, like other cartel operatives, spoke on predicament of anonymity for fear of capture.
“The most important thing now is to survive,” he added, his hands trembling.
The government crackdown on hosted crime enhanced after the Trump administration threatened retribution unless Mexico halted the supply of fentanyl into the United States, vowing high tariffs if the flow of migrants and drugs remained.
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Category: World-News
Tag: Trump Threats and Mexicos Crackdown Hit Mexican Cartel
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Published 3/2/2025