Mexico seizes 8,450 gallons of drug-making chemical

By Dialogo
March 14, 2012

MEXICO CITY – Mexican authorities seized 8,453 gallons (32,000 liters) of methylamine, a precursor chemical for synthetic drugs, on a shipment from China headed for Guatemala, the country’s Attorney General’s office said March 13.
Soldiers and customs officials made the seizure in the Pacific port of Manzanillo.
The drug, which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) lists as a precursor to methamphetamine, was inside 160 metal barrels on two containers from Shanghai, China, according to the Attorney General’s office.
Seizures of precursor chemicals for synthetic drugs and raids on drug labs have multiplied in Mexico and neighboring Guatemala in recent months, as experts say traffickers are increasingly turning to production.
Authorities have seized about 2,205 tons (2,000 metric tons) of precursor chemicals in Mexico in the past five years.
[AFP, 13/03/2012; Pgr.gob.mx (Mexico), 13/03/2012]