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MEXICO-CRIME-DRUGS
Mexico seizes record 50 tons of meth
MEXICO CITY, Aug 18, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Mexican marines seized a record 50
tons of crystal meth from a drug lab in the state of Sinaloa, authorities
said Friday.
The military said it detected the lab in the town of Alcoyonqui, near the
state capital Culiacan, and raided it on Thursday.
“A clandestine narco-lab and two underground store rooms were secured and
dismantled, with approximately 50 tons of processed crystal meth in solid and
liquid form,” the marines said in a statement.
Sinaloa is home to the drug cartel of the same name, formerly run by drug
lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman until his extradition to the United States in
January 2017.
Local media reports said the lab was on territory controlled by the
Sinaloa cartel.
The Mexican government deployed the army to fight the country’s powerful
drug cartels in 2006.
The strategy has led to numerous high-profile kingpin arrests and drug
seizures. But it has also been accompanied by a wave of violence that has
left more than 200,000 murders in its wake.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1005 hrs