Newsmax border correspondent Jaeson Jones reported Saturday from Mexico City after securing an exclusive interview with Captain José Diaz, an intelligence officer with the Mexican Navy.
Diaz revealed the staggering scale of chemical precursors flowing into Mexico for cartel drug production.
Diaz told Jones in an interiew that aired on "Saturday Agenda" that in just 13 months, naval operations have seized more than 800 tons of chemical precursors arriving from China and other countries, materials used in clandestine labs to manufacture synthetic drugs such as fentanyl.
"We are cutting the chain of support," Diaz said, emphasizing that the Navy is relying on intelligence, new technology, and constant operations to disrupt cartel operations.
The Navy's seizures represent only one piece of Mexico's enforcement apparatus, excluding the Army, Air Force, National Guard, and other law-enforcement agencies.
While touring the port of Manzanillo, Mexico's busiest entry point for commercial goods, Jones said officials described increasingly complex smuggling tactics.
Large cargo ships from China sometimes offload chemicals more than 300 miles offshore to cartel-owned vessels, while others route the materials through third countries before attempting entry.
Authorities once monitored roughly a dozen precursor chemicals, but cartels now exploit more than 70 varieties as chemists shift formulas to evade detection.
The interview underscores the vast challenges facing Mexico's security forces — and the deadly impact the synthetic-drug trade continues to have on communities throughout the United States.
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