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1 1 (November 19, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdctd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: * Congqrssionai Research Service Mexican Drug Trafficking and Cartel Operations amid COVID-19 November 19, 2020 Mexico is a primary foreign producer and transit country for illicit drugs destined for the United States. Policymakers, including many in Congress, have been closely watching how the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected drug flow patterns out of Mexico, including the flow of potent opioids and other illicit drugs. Any changes could affect the extent to which Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations, popularly described as cartels, pose a threat to U.S. national security. To date, U. S.-bound illicit drug supplies have persisted, despite early supply chain disruptions. Illicit Drug Flows According to various press, think-tank, U.S. government, and United Nations reports, the pandemic's effect thus far on Mexico-based drug production and trafficking has been mixed. COVID-19-related lockdowns and slowdowns in container trade and port activity, particularly in China and India, appear to have caused shortages in precursor chemicals used to synthesize methamphetamine and fentanyl, resulting in temporary product shortages and price increases. Some reports indicate that Mexican traffickers have stockpiled resources, including cash, due to the uncertainty of how COVID-19 would affect law enforcement attention on the illicit drug trade. Several high-profile seizures in 2020 point to potential trafficker miscalculations as cartels adapt to the COVID-19 operating environment. Such seizures, however, also indicate that illicit drugs and money continue to flow along U.S.-Mexico trafficking corridors. Mexican opium poppy cultivation and heroin production, for example, have been largely unaffected by COVID-19-related developments. The pandemic may motivate Mexico-based drug producers to find alternative precursor sources and further develop domestic production capabilities. Such reports are consistent with early predictions that global mobility restrictions and trade declines associated with the pandemic could disrupt illicit drug supply chains and diversify drug trafficking patterns and routes but that any disruptions to Mexican production and trafficking likely would be temporary. In October 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assessed that the pandemic has slowed the pace of drug trafficking into the United States and disrupted some cartel operations but that cartels' ability to move large quantities of drugs remains largely intact. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11535 CRS NSIGHT Prepared for Membersand Commi rwes ao Cong ress --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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