(Los Angeles Times).- For decades, Mexican cartels have made big money trafficking drugs. The trade was long dominated by hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine — but in recent years, criminal organizations have taken over the underground fentanyl market, eclipsing China as the main U.S. supplier.
A Los Angeles Times investigation published on Thursday, February 2nd, exposed a new front in the cartels’ efforts to turn illicit fentanyl into cash. In three cities in northwestern Mexico, reporters found that some pharmacies are selling counterfeit pills laced with more powerful substances such as fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Experts said those pills are almost certainly coming from cartels aiming to pass them off as legitimate — and difficult-to-get — pharmaceuticals such as oxycodone and Adderall. But some readers wondered: Why would cartels go to the trouble of making fake pills, and lacing them with deadly drugs?
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Source: Los Angeles Times
