The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), an organization linked to the United Nations system, documented in its 2025 Report that the main mexican posters They expanded their operations outside of Mexico and are now operating as transnational criminal networks with a presence on at least three continents.
The report identifies the Sinaloa Cartel and to Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) as key actors in the production and trafficking of synthetic drugsespecially fentanyl and methamphetamine, in addition to their participation in distribution networks, installation of clandestine laboratories and alliances with local criminal structures.
According to the INCB, these organizations stopped operating solely as groups dedicated to border trafficking between Mexico and the United States. Its model now combines production, logistics, access to chemical precursorslaboratories abroad and agreements with criminal gangs in Central America, South America and Europe.
How Mexican cartels operate outside of Mexico
The report describes an expansion based on three axes: the control of international routes, the production of synthetic drugs and cooperation with criminal groups local.
- In Hondurasthe INCB mentions the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG for their links with gangs and regional organizations such as the Mara Salvatrucha, Barrio 18, the Tren de Aragua and the Clan del Golfo. This presence increases the capacity to transport drugs through Central America, a key area for trafficking to the United States.
- In Chiliauthorities seized some 844 kilograms of methamphetamine and chemical precursors in January 2025. The operation dismantled a structure based in Mexico that sought to install a crystal methamphetamine conversion laboratory in the O’Higgins region.
- In Europethe expansion is reflected in clandestine laboratories. In June 2024, France dismantled a large-scale methamphetamine laboratory linked to the Sinaloa Cartel and criminal networks in Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. In April 2025, Belgium discovered another laboratory with the capacity to produce hundreds of kilograms of amphetamine and methamphetamine per month.
Fentanyl and chemical precursors
He fentanyl appears as one of the central points of the report. The DEA informed the INCB that the supply available in the United States comes from transnational criminal organizations based in Mexico. As of April 2025, authorities had seized 9,354 kilograms of fentanyl on the border between Mexico and the United States.
The INCB also warns about the trafficking of chemical precursorssubstances necessary to manufacture synthetic drugs. One of the documented cases was the interception of three tons of 1-boc-4-piperidone, a precursor that would have allowed the production of between 1.4 and 3.3 tons of fentanyl, enough to generate hundreds of millions of doses with lethal potential.
The tracking of these inputs is one of the biggest challenges for authorities, due to international logistics chains, front companies and trade routes that are difficult to detect.
Mexico toughens laws, but the UN warns of risks
Given the advance of synthetic drug trafficking, Mexico reformed its Constitution to expand the crimes that warrant informal preventive detention, including those related to the production, storage and trafficking of chemical precursors, fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
However, the UN also registered concern about automatic preventive detention, considering that it may come into tension with international human rights standards.
A threat without borders
The INCB’s conclusion is that the mexican posters They can no longer be analyzed only as national or border organizations. The report describes them as networks with the capacity to produce, distribute and associate with criminal groups in several countries.
For the United Nations, the response must be international. The expansion of laboratories, routes and alliances shows that no country faces this phenomenon in isolation.
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