The American newspaper The New York Times this Monday rejected the statements of President Claudia Sheinbaum, who described as “not very credible” her report on the production of fentanyl in an alleged laboratory in Culiacán, Sinaloa, cradle of the homonymous drug trafficking cartel.
“The New York Times has absolute confidence in our reporting on the production and testing of fentanyl in Mexico,” the newspaper said on its social networks.
In the message, the publication clarified that its journalists spent “months” investigating the fentanyl industry, in addition to officially summoning current and former Mexican officials on the subject and documenting the operation of a fentanyl laboratory in Sinaloa.
“We fully support the reporting,” the newspaper concluded.
Read: ‘This is not how fentanyl is produced’: Sheinbaum questions NYT report in Sinaloa
The New York Times thus responded to Sheinbaum, who this Monday during his press conference criticized that “this report is not very credible because of how it is being presented and we are going to prove it scientifically.”
Sheinbaum asked for “seriousness” with the information and said that the media has that responsibility especially with these “delicate” issues.
Sheinbaum, who took office in October, commented that this Sunday “a note came out that is important to note, where two reporters allegedly entered a fentanyl laboratory” in the center of Culiacán in the midst of the internal struggle of the Sinaloa Cartel, which has left more than 500 deaths since September 9.
In the New York newspaper article, the journalists claim that they entered with hazmat-type protective suits and gas masks, but the cook was only wearing a surgical mask and he and his assistant were responding to an order for 10 kilograms of fentanyl.
In this regard, the president maintained that “the photographs presented there are not credible, even because of the damage to health that could be caused by those who are cooking, as they say, these drugs.”
Sheinbaum insisted that fentanyl is not produced in the way shown in the report and assured that the Secretary of the Navy or the Federal Commission for the Protection against Health Risks will report on the production methods.
Read: Sheinbaum celebrates the ‘largest’ fentanyl seizure in history in Sinaloa
In addition, he criticized the newspaper’s previous coverage on the subject by mentioning an article published in February about unsuccessful investigations by the US Anti-Drug Agency (DEA) into alleged bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel that the campaign of then-president Andrés Manuel López Obrador would have received.
And he questioned another recent report by the same media about Mexican chemistry students who receive between $800 and $1,000 a month from drug trafficking groups to make more powerful fentanyl and find a replacement for chemical precursors from Asia.
With information from EFE
