Chinese Gangs Fuel Meth Scourge in US, Mexico b4in.org/cGZ Chinese gangs are supplying Mexican drug cartels with chemicals to create meth, fueling an epidemic of drug use in the United States and drug wars in Mexico. Methamphetamine, which goes by several other names including meth, crystal, and ice, gives its users a several-minute rush if injected, and a feeling of euphoria if snorted or swallowed. It is also extremely addictive, and causes severe paranoia and violent behavior. Meth used to be easy to make. The chemicals required to create the drug were available at most local drug stores, and people running meth labs used those shops as their local suppliers. Alarmed at the growing popularity of the drug, in 2004 the United States began regulating pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in meth often found in cough medicine. A January report from the Congressional Research Service showed that the number of meth labs in the United States dropped nearly fourfold until 2007. Then the number of labs began rapidly increasing. While some labs were able to evade the ban by getting people to purchase regulated cough medicine used to create weaker versions of meth, shipments of pure pseudoephedrine were coming in quantity into Mexico from China. “The Mexican cartels have been dominating this illicit market into the United States for years now. The type of precursor chemicals, their bulk amounts, and their origins make this a true smoking gun,” said Robert Bunker, a distinguished visiting professor and Minerva chair at the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College. More b4in.org/cGZ
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 07:38:19 +0000
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