Overview

• The cartel is dispatching low-weight shipments—often between 5 and 15 pounds—to reduce detectability and financial losses from increased U.S. seizures.
• Traffickers engineer custom vehicle compartments by welding steel tubes behind door panels and masking odors with chemical sprays to evade inspections.
• The cartel pays off at least four Mexican military checkpoints and a cooperating U.S. border agent to guarantee safe passage of fentanyl across the frontier.
• Recruitment networks enlist U.S. citizens as mules to carry sealed fentanyl loads through official ports of entry, exploiting their lower scrutiny.
• Despite record seizures exceeding 26,000 kilograms since 2019, fentanyl’s high potency and profitability have driven more than 84,000 U.S. overdose deaths in 2024.