The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, asked this Monday to “establish communication” with China after Beijing denied that there is illegal trafficking of fentanyl between the two countries following a letter that the president sent to his counterpart, Xi Jinping.
We still do not have a formal communication, a formal response and we want to establish communication with the Government of China, with the Foreign Ministry, with the Embassy”,
indicated López Obrador in his daily press conference.
“The Secretary of Foreign Relations (Marcelo Ebrard) is already doing this, to have a clear position on the pronouncement made by the Government of China,” added the Mexican president.
The president referred to the statements by Mao Ning, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who stated last Friday that “there is no illegal trafficking of fentanyl between China and Mexico” in response to López Obrador’s letter to Xi Jinping.
The origin of the cause of overdoses is in the United States. The issue is totally ‘made in America’. They must face their own problems and take more significant steps to strengthen national regulations and reduce demand.”
the spokeswoman urged.
The Mexican president evaded a response with the argument of “not committing any imprudence”, but indicated that his government has “then to know where the fentanyl is produced.”
And here I make it clear again that fentanyl is not produced in Mexico, the raw material for fentanyl is not produced and, if those of the Chinese government say that they do not produce it either, then it is interesting to know who is producing it, and we must continue investigating ”,
manifested.
López Obrador sent the letter to Xi Jinping last week to ask him for help against fentanyl trafficking in the face of growing questions about Mexico from US politicians, particularly from Republican lawmakers, who are calling for a declaration of war on the Mexican cartels.
In the letter, the president defended Mexico’s efforts to seize fentanyl, noting that last year it seized 7 tons and destroyed 1,383 clandestine laboratories.
He also reiterated that only 30% of the fentanyl consumed by the United States enters the country.
The president announced that this week the secretaries of the security cabinet will travel to Washington to address the issue.
He also requested the cooperation of China and the United States to find where the synthetic drug is produced, which the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) maintains that the Mexican cartels produce with raw materials from China and, to a lesser extent, from India.
We are going to continue dealing with this matter, we just want to do it with all the elements to see what exactly they (China) maintain about fentanyl, with the purpose of not committing any imprudence ”,
Lopez Obrador commented.
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