(NewsNation) — The Sinaloa cartel is turning to chemistry students in Mexico to make fentanyl in the hopes of making the drug more potent and thereby addictive, according to The New York Times.
Recruitment of chemistry students at Mexican universities is part of the cartel’s strategy to expand its fentanyl empire.
According to the Times, the cartel hopes to synthesize chemical compounds in the drug to save importing raw materials from China.
“They don’t tell you how to do it — they say, ‘These are the products, you’re going to make them with this, it could go wrong, but that’s why you’re studying,'” an anonymous chemistry student working for the cartel told the Times.
“Here, if they don’t like what you produce, they can make you disappear,” the student added.
Former senior DEA agent Michael Brown joined “NewsNation Now” to discuss the reported story.
“I think this is a direct indication of just how successful Mexican cartels have been in producing and distributing fentanyl into the United States; that the demand now is so great that the cartels have to increase their capability to manufacture fentanyl,” Brown said.
“This is a very lucrative trap for college students who may not have a lot of money, who think this may be something easy-going for a couple of months, and then get out of it, not understanding that once you get involved with the cartels, there is no exit,” he added.
