President Claudia Sheinbaum described as “not very credible” a report by The New York Times on the production of fentanyl in an alleged laboratory in the heart of Culiacán, Sinaloa, cradle of the homonymous drug trafficking cartel.
“This report is not very credible because of how it is being presented and we are going to prove it scientifically. Also, they must be serious with the information they are giving, everyone, the media has that responsibility and, particularly, on issues as delicate as the one that is being presented,” he declared in his morning conference.
Sheinbaum commented that this Sunday “a note came out that is important to note, where two reporters allegedly enter 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 on 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.
But Sheinbaum 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.”
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“It’s not very credible, let’s put it that way. “It is not (produced) like that, fentanyl is produced in other ways, and the Secretary of the Navy or the regulator itself, Cofepris (Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks), can inform what the production methods are,” he explained.
Sheinbaum criticized that “this issue from the New York Times in relation to drug production in Mexico comes from before.”
In particular, Sheinbaum mentioned an article that the newspaper published in February about unsuccessful investigations by the US Anti-Drug Agency (DEA) into alleged bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel that Andrés Manuel López Obrador would have received.
And he once again undermined a report by the same media about chemistry students receiving between $800 and $1,000 a month from the Sinaloa Cartel to make more powerful fentanyl and find a replacement for chemical precursors from Asia.
Sheinbaum defended his government’s security strategy and questioned “what happens when drugs enter the United States? In other words, how is fentanyl sold in US cities? Or are there no illegalities in the sale there?”
“Just as we are dealing with the issue in our country, there also has to be (work) on the part of the United States and collaboration within the framework of respect that always has to occur. So it is important to draw attention to this report,” argued Sheinbaum.
With information from EFE
