Mexican cartels and criminals in the EU cooperate in drug smuggling to Europe

The report says that Mexican and European criminal gangs bribe officials in the public and private sectors to help smuggle narcotics.

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Members of the special unit of the Mexican army in a security operation in the state of Sinaloa, Photo: Reuters
Members of the special unit of the Mexican army in a security operation in the state of Sinaloa, Photo: Reuters
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Mexican cartels and criminal groups in the European Union are collaborating to smuggle methamphetamine and cocaine from Latin America to Europe, according to a report released today by Europol and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

According to the report, in the first such joint initiative involving both agencies, both Mexican and European criminal gangs are bribing officials in the public and private sectors to help with drug smuggling.

Criminals are also infiltrating transport and trading companies to hide shipments, or setting up their own companies with the help of individuals who hide their identities, according to a report reported by Reuters.

Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, and EMCDDA, the EU's drug agency, warned are in May that Europe is becoming a center for the production of cocaine as well as a transit point for its shipment to other regions of the world, due to the increase in production in South America and the improvement of European capacities for processing raw drugs.

Cartels send drugs to Europe by sea or air, usually hidden in food, building materials and goods such as water filters and wooden door frames, the report said. When it arrives in the EU, local criminal networks transfer it to final destinations in Europe and beyond.

The destination of methamphetamine is often outside the EU, which becomes only a transit point, before shipping the drug to more profitable markets in Oceania and Asia.

"According to some indications, Mexican criminal groups are involved in the operation of cocaine processing laboratories on EU territory," the report said.

Reuters reports that Mexico's main cartels, the Sinaloa Popu and the Jalisco Nueva Generation, have large areas of influence in Mexico and engage in brutal violence to control drug routes.

In 2020, Italian authorities discovered a smuggling operation involving members of Sinaloa and their associates from the EU. The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain have also dismantled illegal manufacturing facilities linked to Mexican nationals in recent years, the report said.

It is warned that a greater presence of cartels on EU territory could lead to an increase in violence and greater profits for Mexican criminal networks.

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