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The production of fentanyl and methamphetamine requires key ingredients known as precursor chemicals. Because of their illicit uses, these substances are highly regulated around the world.
Yet synthetic drug producers in Mexico have found ways to circumvent regulations to obtain the precursor chemicals. And a sophisticated network of brokers has allowed them to find and buy less-regulated chemicals, which have several legal purposes but are also used in the early stages of producing methamphetamine and fentanyl.
This has created a complex and multilayered market, with various actors operating between legal and illegal spheres.
Over the course of a year, InSight Crime tracked the flow of precursor chemicals: from the companies manufacturing and selling them in China, India, and other countries, to the chemists and cooks synthesizing the drugs in Mexico.
Our team went to key synthetic drug production zones in Mexico, transit points, ports of entry, and cities on both sides of the US-Mexico border that are suffering the human consequences of this illicit industry.
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