Mexico Was 18 Years Late in Controlling the Chemical Used to Make Heroin
First the U.S. resisted tough regulation of acetic anhydride. Then, tragically, Mexico did.
Police photos from a May 2019 bust in Sinaloa state. The jugs contain acetic anhydride.
Source: Sinaloa Public Safety Agency
This article is for subscribers only.
How did the chemical required to make heroin remain almost unregulated in Mexico as overdose deaths in the U.S. mounted? The answer seems to rest, in part, on the danger of default settings.
The story starts in 1987. Amid a surge of violence and addiction driven by cocaine trafficking to the U.S., the Central Intelligence Agency and the Drug Enforcement Administration made an embarrassing discovery: American companies were selling and exporting about 95% of the chemicals South American drug cartels used to make cocaine.