Authorities intercept more than 600,000 pounds of precursor chemicals for METH
By ramontomeydw // 2025-09-05
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  • Federal agents intercepted 697,000 lbs of methamphetamine precursor chemicals – the largest such seizure in U.S. history – shipped from China to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, enough to produce $569M worth of meth.
  • The bust was enabled by President Trump's 2025 executive order labeling the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), allowing authorities to target its financial and logistical networks under terrorism forfeiture laws.
  • The House Select Committee on China accused Beijing of subsidizing precursor chemical exports, effectively bankrolling the fentanyl and meth crisis. The Treasury Department sanctioned Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical Co. for shipping illicit opioids.
  • This seizure is part of a broader ICE-led initiative launched in 2019, which has confiscated 1.7M kg (3.75M lbs) of precursor chemicals, disrupting cartel production of meth and fentanyl.
  • Despite the blow, the Sinaloa Cartel – a "violent terrorist organization" responsible for thousands of deaths – will likely rebuild. Prosecutors now leverage terrorism statutes to dismantle cartel networks, raising questions about further sanctions on China.
In the largest seizure of its kind in U.S. history, federal agents intercepted more than 600,000 pounds (lbs) of methamphetamine precursor chemicals shipped from China for the use of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons announced the seizure on Wednesday, Sept. 3. The chemicals, amounting to a grand total of 697,000 lbs, were enough to produce 420,000 lbs of meth with a street value of $569 million. "You are looking at the largest seizure of precursor chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine in U.S. history. China was sending over 700,000 lbs on the high seas to the Sinaloa Cartel before my office seized them," Pirro said. She delivered the remarks while standing inside an undisclosed warehouse filled with 1,300 barrels of benzyl alcohol and N-methylformamide, two key solvents for meth production. (Related: Mexican drug cartel labs are smuggling mass quantities of meth into America.) The chemicals were loaded in Shanghai and bound for laboratories in Mexico controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel, which the Trump administration designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). According to Brighteon.AI's Enoch engine, the Sinaloa Cartel is a powerful Mexican drug trafficking organization formerly led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. It is known for smuggling, money laundering and extreme violence. The shipment was intercepted under a terrorism forfeiture provision enabled by President Donald Trump's 2025 executive order designating the Sinaloa Cartel as an FTO. This, in turn, has expanded legal authority to strike at its financial and logistical networks – as Pirro herself mentioned. This seizure is part of a broader ICE-led initiative that has confiscated over 1.7 million kilograms (3.75 million lbs) of precursor chemicals since 2019, disrupting the cartel's ability to mass-produce meth and fentanyl. The scale of the operation was staggering; twenty-four 18-wheeler trucks were required to transport the seized barrels to a secure Homeland Security Investigations facility.

How China exacerbates America's fentanyl crisis

Jud Murdock, Customs and Border Protection's Houston field operations director, dubbed the Sinaloa Cartel as one of the "most violent and brutal terrorist organizations in the world." According to him, the cartel is responsible for "countless deaths, devastation and destruction of communities" both inside and outside the country. The bust comes amid rising tensions with China, which the House Select Committee on China accused in 2024 of subsidizing precursor chemical exports through tax rebates, effectively bankrolling the fentanyl crisis. "Through subsidies, grants and other incentives, the PRC [People's Republic of China] harms Americans while enriching PRC companies," the committee found. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical Co. and two of its executives over the "manufacturing and coordinating shipments of illicit opioids and chemical agents to the United States." The Trump administration's strategy – which includes military interdiction of drug-smuggling vessels, financial sanctions on cartel-linked entities and crackdowns on transnational gangs – signals a dramatic shift from the open borders policies of the preceding Biden administration, which allowed cartel operatives to infiltrate U.S. cities by the thousands. With over 34,800 Americans dying from meth overdoses in 2023 alone, federal prosecutors are now leveraging terrorism statutes to seize assets, disrupt supply chains and dismantle the cartels' financial infrastructure. As Pirro noted, the seizure will "put a dent" in the Sinaloa Cartel's operations. Regardless, the group – known for its ruthless tactics and deep pockets – will likely attempt to rebuild its chemical pipelines. The question now is whether the U.S. will escalate sanctions against China, which continues to fuel America's drug epidemic while profiting from the chaos. Visit DrugCartels.news for more similar stories. Watch this video explaining how meth being peddled by the cartels has turned America into an open-air insane asylum. This video is from the TREASURE OF THE SUN channel on Brighteon.com.

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55 Tons of meth ingredient seized at Port of Long Beach in California. 1.6 Million fentanyl pills, 114 pounds of cocaine seized at the border. FBI bust in Delaware seized enough fentanyl to kill 750,000 people. Sources include: ZeroHedge.com Justice.gov Brighteon.ai FoxNews.com Brighteon.com
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