80 tonnes of drug-making chemicals seized in Mexico

Mexico City, May 21 (IANS/EFE) A huge consignment - 80 tonnes - of chemicals used for manufacturing synthetic drugs have been seized in Mexico’s Manzanillo port, the Mexican navy has said.

The seized substance - ethyl phenyl-acetate - is used by the Mexican drug cartels to make synthetic drugs like crystal meth and Ecstasy and in the refining process for cocaine, the Navy Secretariat said.

The shipment of drugs had come from China, it said Thursday.

The cartels earn anywhere from $15 billion to $25 billion a year by providing drugs to consumers in the US and north of the Mexican border.

–IANS/EFE