[Karah Rucker]

Mexican drug cartels have a new target for their production of fentanyl and other illicit drugs: chemistry students.

Colleges and universities have become the latest recruiting ground for Mexican criminal groups looking to build their own fentanyl empires.

The New York Times reported Sunday how the Sinaloa cartel worked to recruit so-called “cooks” to make fentanyl for them. The Sinaloa cartel is one of Mexico’s largest, and U.S. authorities say it’s one of the handful of cartels responsible for nearly all fentanyl crossing the southern border.

But if Mexican cartels succeed at making fentanyl locally, it may make it harder to stop them from selling and exporting the drug to the U.S.

Currently, cartels ship supplies in from China. That has allowed for the U.S. and China to agree on restricting sales of key supplies to Mexico in order to weaken cartels.

U.S. officials told the Times they worried about fentanyl production happening entirely in Mexico. They said it could limit both countries in their efforts to track the drug.

President-elect Donald Trump wants to take an aggressive approach in the fight to limit fentanyl production. He promised to attack or potentially invade Mexico on the campaign trail, threatening to deploy U.S. troops to fight cartels.

He also threatened a 25% tariff on all goods imported from Mexico. 

The country’s new president Claudia Sheinbaum asked for international help to prevent the shipment of chemicals used to make fentanyl.

Students, meanwhile, face a persuasive offer to join cartels in their efforts. One student the Times interviewed said they offered $800 upfront and $800 per month – twice as much as the average salary for a chemist in Mexico.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Karah Rucker.

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