EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The Mexican navy has released a video of a clandestine “mega drug lab” seized earlier this month in the border state of Sonora.
The agency says it found more than 40 tons of methamphetamines, 12 tons of illegal precursor chemicals and dozens of machines used to manufacture the drugs at six sites in a wooded area near the town of Rancho Viejo, Sonora.
The video shows navy special forces blowing up home-made reactors, chemical accelerators, and industrial centrifuges. It also shows sacks stacked on pallets and on the ground purportedly containing meth ready to ship to the U.S. border.
“This is the largest clandestine lab seized (in the last five years) and represents half of all the drugs and precursor chemicals seized this year,” the Ministry of the Navy (SEMAR) said in a statement this week.
The drugs and precursor chemicals seized could have produced 1.3 billion doses of meth in the U.S. and Mexican black markets and yielded $700 million in profits for criminal groups, SEMAR said.
No arrests were reported, and no information was available regarding the criminal organization that built and operated the so-called “mega lab.”
The news drew mixed reaction from Mexican citizens on social media.
“How many people arrested? Who supplied those labs? What where the routes for the finished product?” one responder asked.
“Just a show to calm the waters.” wrote another.
“Good job by our security forces and our governor. This will protect thousands of families, especially young, vulnerable people,” posted former Hermosillo city council member Manu Canez.
