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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in northern Mexico on Wednesday
found 32 kilograms of fentanyl hidden inside boxes of sliced
cactus, a quintessential Mexican food staple known as nopales.
Mexican law enforcement said they seized some 275,000 pills of
the lethal drug in the border state of Sonora, on its way to
Arizona, and that they arrested a 29-year-old man. The drugs
were valued at about $6.5 million. Authorities found both pills
and the drug in powder form.
It's just the latest in a cat-and-mouse game between drug
smugglers and authorities, as traffickers find increasingly
outlandish ways to sneak drugs into other countries. Packets of
cocaine and fentanyl have been found tucked away in hair
extensions and inside avocados, and even transported via
submarine.
The seizure also comes during a tense moment between Mexico and
the United States, as Mexico scrambles to satisfy President
Donald Trump's demands to stop the flow of fentanyl and migrants
north, which he has used to justify the 25% tariffs he put in
place on Tuesday, though migration north and fentanyl overdoses
had already sharply dipped before Trump took office.
On Wednesday, Trump said that after negotiating with Mexican and
Canadian authorities he would grant a one-month tariff
exceptions to automakers, offsetting the brunt of the economic
blow tariffs would dole out.
The fentanyl seizure happened at a military checkpoint on the
Mexican highway connecting the northern states of Sinaloa and
Sonora, where officers searched a trailer carrying packets of
nopales.
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