All About Synthetic Drugs

NEWS

An Extradition (and a Fentanyl Prohibition) as Mexico Tries a Counterdrug Reset

CHAPITOS / 18 SEP 2023

In Mexico, criminal groups have prohibited fentanyl production, and the state extradited a top trafficker. Could this mean new US-Mexico counternarcotic relations?…

FENTANYL / 29 JUN 2023

The US government has brought its first-ever criminal charges against Chinese companies for allegedly trafficking precursor chemicals used to produce fentanyl into the United States, demonstrating a sharpened focus on…

FENTANYL / 27 JUN 2023

Synthetic drugs are growing in prevalence around the world, but consumer markets in Latin America remain limited.

FENTANYL / 12 JUN 2023

Synthetic drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, and flawed institutions could explain a recent spike in violence roiling Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

EXTORTION / 31 MAY 2023

A new report has found that organized crime groups are overwhelmingly to blame for violence in Mexico, and the CJNG plays an oversized role.

EXTORTION / 18 MAY 2023

Despite the CJNG moving into Mexico's northern state of Tamaulipas, the Gulf Cartel remains the foremost security threat along the US border.

CRIMINAL MIGRATION / 17 MAY 2023

Some believe the CJNG’s invasion of Tamaulipas is all but a sure thing despite the Gulf Cartel’s historical roots, others are not convinced.

DRUG POLICY / 10 MAY 2023

Mexico's regulations concerning precursor chemicals is strong on paper, but rampant corruption means this is essentially meaningless.

FENTANYL / 10 MAY 2023

While cooks produce vast quantities of fentanyl in makeshift labs across Mexico, they are watched over by a small group of expert chemists.

FENTANYL / 9 MAY 2023

Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG depend on a network of brokers to buy precursor chemicals needed to make fentanyl and meth.

CHAPITOS / 9 MAY 2023

The difficulty of sourcing finished fentanyl from China has Mexican groups acquire precursor chemicals to synthesize fentanyl themselves.

FEATURED / 8 MAY 2023

The heavy regulation placed on chemical precursors used for meth and fentanyl has seen drug traffickers turn to pre-precursors instead.

FENTANYL / 8 MAY 2023

InSight Crime's new report shows the inner workings of Mexico's synthetic drugs trade and how criminal groups have profited from it.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Rights Watch Draws on InSight Crime's Haiti Coverage

18 AUG 2023

Non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch relied on InSight Crime's coverage this week, citing six articles and one of our criminal profiles in its latest report on the humanitarian…