U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) aggressive enforcement posture against Mexican drug trafficking organizations continue bringing record-breaking drugs seizures beyond the land border, at U.S. airports and seaports.
BP officers at an air cargo consignment facility of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) seized two shipments of 80 bags, containing 5,700 pounds of methylamine chloride, a known chemical that is used as a precursor to methamphetamine. If used to make methamphetamine, the street value of this seizure is $40 million.
The shipments arrived from China on April 19 and 23, with a final destination in central Mexico. Samples of the white powdery chemical were positively identified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Methylamine chloride is a corrosive, flammable, strong-odor chemical. In one pathway, it is essential to manufacture methamphetamine and ecstasy.
More information can be found at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Website
