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Crime

17,000 Liters of Precursor Chemicals for Synthetic Drugs Seized in Guanajuato

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By Samantha Johnson / March 25, 2026

By “El Huaso” for Borderland Beat

Guanajuato police arrested two men who were transporting over 17,000 liters of chemical precursors used for making synthetic drugs without documentation on the on the Morelia–Salamanca highway.
The bust is notable as Guanajuato is not a major synthetic drugs production state. Based on the direction the load of precursors was heading, combined with Michoacán’s reputation as a synthetic drug production state, the chemicals were likely headed to the Carteles Unidos, the criminal organization in Michoacán who supply the CSRL with their methamphetamine.
In 2024, Guanajuato newspaper Periodico Correo published an article tracking narco labs found in the state, finding that the bulk of them were found a decade ago. 
This aligns with Borderland Beat interviews with local researchers, who state that both the CJNG and CSRL purchase methamphetamine from other states for the local consumer market, rather than creating their own. This could be a result the decade-long CSRL-CJNG fight for Guanajuato, which impedes the ability of either criminal group from investing in a lab which could be easily located and attacked.

Sources

Juan Mauro González Martínez Twitter.
“Desmantelan 17 narcolaboratorios en Guanajuato en 15 años.” Periódico Correo. 
Borderland Beat El Huaso interview with David Saucedo.


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