Mexican authorities seize 110,000 fentanyl pills and arrest 3, including 1 American

Three people, including an American citizen and a double national, were arrested and 110,000 fentanyl pills were seized, Mexican authorities announced on Saturday.

The arrests were carried out by the Secretariat of Security and Protection of Citizens and the Office of the Attorney General, in coordination with other federal agencies, the SSCP said in a press release. The Federal Bureau of Investigation also participated in the binational operation, said the SSCP.

The information acquired by the United States and Mexico has enabled security agents to implement “intelligence and surveillance work actions” which led them to the three people. After making ground patrols in the Ciudad Juárez of Mexico, the security guards identified two men and a woman traveling in a vehicle. The three fled when they noticed the authorities, said the SSCP.

After a brief pursuit, the three were arrested. The security agents found the fentanyl pills inside the vehicle. They had been divided into 10 transparent plastic packages. Photos shared on social networks By the head of the SSCP, Omar Hamid García Harfuch also shows four IDs and three mobile phones.

All three were arrested and presented to the prosecutor’s office, said the SSCP. The pills were also placed in police custody. The three people were not identified. The woman is American. One of the men is a double Mexican-American national and has a mandate in the United States for drug trafficking, the authorities said.

Arrests will help “limit trafficking in illicit substances and prevent drugs from reaching young people,” said SSCP.

The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, made Fight against illegal drug distribution a priority for his government. In recent months, the country’s authorities have announced several major fentanyl crisesincluding a 2024 crisis which, according to managers the biggest in the history of the country.