China is involved in Mexico drug trade for over a century: From opium to precursor chemicals to money laundering and cartel weapons

The killing of Mexican drug kingpin El Mencho — real name Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes — has brought sharp focus to how his cartel, the CJNG, depended on China and Chinese operators to build its fentanyl empire. While Chinese-sourced precursors have supported most Mexican cartels involved in synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, the history of Chinese involvement in Mexico’s drug trade goes back to the 20th-century opium economy.

Here are the ways in which China and Chinese operators helped Mexican drug cartels:

Opium dens: Chinese involvement in Mexico’s drug trade began a century ago

In the early 20th century, opium dens were introduced in Mexico, mainly catering to Chinese immigrant labourers. Initially, Chinese merchants and farmers grew poppies and processed opium for smoking dens, primarily serving local Chinese communities in Mexico’s Sonora and Baja California.

Gradually, the opium poppy was incorporated into Mexico’s agricultural landscape. By the mid-century, Mexican farmers and cartels dominated poppy cultivation, though Chinese networks had helped establish the crop’s illicit integration into north-west Mexico’s agricultural system.

This marked Mexico’s first tryst with the drug trade and paved the way for the country’s opium economy, which later expanded into heroin production for the American market.

Precursor chemicals: The second major phase of Chinese involvement in Mexico drug trade

Many Mexican cartels have now pivoted to synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and fentanyl. China is the primary global source of precursor chemicals and related equipment fuelling Mexico’s synthetic drug boom.

Chinese state-subsidised chemical industries, operating with lax enforcement of dual-use regulations, facilitated access to these key materials.

Fentanyl precursors — including NPP, ANPP, 4-AP and propionic anhydride — are produced in Chinese chemical plants and shipped to Mexican cartels, often using mislabelling or dark-web sales. Clandestine laboratories in Mexico synthesise fentanyl and its analogues, producing drugs that are far cheaper and more potent than heroin.

Methamphetamine precursors, such as ephedrine or pseudoephedrine derivatives, follow similar routes, enabling large-scale meth production in Mexico.

Mexican cartels such as El Mencho's CJNG (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación) and the Sinaloa cartel receive these imports through ports including Manzanillo, via brokers and Chinese-Mexican trafficking organisations such as the so-called “Zheng cartel”, which act as intermediaries.

The introduction of these synthetics devastated much of the agrarian economy in poppy-growing regions like Sinaloa and Guerrero, as demand shifted from heroin to fentanyl.

Rise of Chinese ‘pre precursors’:' Another disturbing trend in Mexico drug trade

In 2019, the Chinese government scheduled fentanyl as a controlled substance. Since then, some suppliers shifted to producing and marketing “pre-precursor” chemicals and custom analogues.
These are designed to evade both Chinese and international controls. The pre-precursors and analogues are sold through encrypted platforms and business-to-business marketplaces.

Some Chinese chemical executives and brokers have been charged in the US with knowingly providing technical guidance on synthesis methods and evasion tactics to buyers linked to Mexican cartels.

China supplies machinery, technology for mass production of drugs in Mexico

China supplies much of the machinery used for mass drug production in Mexico, from pill pressers to assembly-line equipment. Pill presses and other industrial machines enable the large-scale production of fentanyl-laced tablets and counterfeit oxycodone.

Chinese operators run extensive money laundering mechanisms to fuel Mexico drug trade in US

Chinese underground banking systems and brokers, some of them based in the US, launder cartel money. One method involves purchasing goods in China for resale in Mexico, thereby generating clean cash for cartels.

Funds are then moved back to Mexico using a variety of techniques that involves burner phones, apps and human networks. The intermediaries take a cut to repatriate billions generated from US drug sales to the Mexican cartels. Cryptocurrency and digital payment systems are among the technologies used in this process.

Some of the sophisticated Chinese underground banking networks in the US collect bulk cartel cash directly from distributors and settle accounts through mirror transactions in China. Then they offset the payments through trade-based schemes. In the whole process, money does not change hands physically across borders. It is a faster and cheaper method than traditional laundering channels, reducing cartels’ reliance on intermediaries in Colombia or Mexico.

Chinese-origin weapons and military-grade technology

The CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel have reportedly used weapons and military-style technologies of Chinese origin, including drones and tactical gear. This equipment has increased their operational capacity and lethality, both in cartel turf wars and in confrontations with Mexican authorities.

China–Mexico cartel cooperation fuelled US opioid crisis

Chinese participation in trafficking organisations, including Chinese-Mexican networks, forms another aspect of this cooperation. These groups act as intermediaries in chemical procurement and assist in laundering proceeds.

In short, China has played a significant role in fuelling the US opioid crisis through the supply of precursor materials for fentanyl, as well as chemicals used in counterfeit and poor-quality narcotics. A relationship that began with opium dens a century ago has evolved into a complex synthetic-drug supply chain that continues today.