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Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Drugs (Central America)

Fentanyl is not a major concern in the region of Central America (CENTAM), as they are not involved in the production nor are they a major customer for it. Fentanyl is largely produced in Mexico and distributed to the United States. However, CENTAM has become a key region for drug smuggling, such as Guatemala and Honduras, as it holds key transport sites for cocaine and cannabis from South America.

In recent years, Central America has experienced a significant decline in aerial drug trafficking, particularly in Honduras and Guatemala, indicating a strategic shift by traffickers toward maritime routes. In the first four months of 2024, only two clandestine airstrips were discovered in Honduras, and just one in Guatemala, with no drug flights intercepted in the latter. This marks a sharp decrease from previous years. For instance, Honduras destroyed over 30 airstrips annually in the late 2010s, this number dropped to eight in 2023. Similarly, Guatemala's destruction of drug runways fell from 22 in 2021 to 12 in 2023. While aerial interdictions have declined, authorities have reported substantial cocaine seizures via maritime routes—Honduran forces seized nearly 7 tons, and Guatemalan counterparts confiscated 6 tons in the same period—highlighting a pivot in trafficking methods. Experts suggest that enhanced aerial surveillance and military capabilities, bolstered by U.S. support, have made air routes less viable for traffickers. However, the shift to maritime trafficking presents new challenges, as these routes are harder to monitor and interdict, underscoring the evolving nature of drug trafficking in the region.

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Dec 20, 2024

From Fujian to Flushing: Chinese Criminal Networks in the Americas and Beyond

Publications

Jun 19, 2024

Fourth Transnational Criminal Wave: New Extra Regional Actors and Shifting Markets Transform Latin America’s Illicit Economies and Transnational Organized Crime Alliances

The items below are literature and publications regarding Fentanyl and Synthetic Drugs across Central America.

Apr 1, 2025 — Financial Trend Analysis Fentanyl-Related Illicit Finance: 2024 Threat Pattern and Trend Information: Mexico (101), Colombia (26), and Dominican Republic (32) listed among top 10 countries where Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reports identified suspicious activity associated with fentanyl trafficking.

Sinaloa and Jalisco, strongholds for the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), were the top 02 listed Mexican states identified in BSAs.

Money serving businesses (MSBs) in the United States (USA) accounted for 32% of all BSA reports and USA depository institutions accounted for 57% of all fentanyl BSA reports indicating abuse of the U.S. financial system by fentanyl smugglers.

U.S. Treasure Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

Apr 1, 2025 — Links between Western Balkans and South America: Assess the new global trade partnerships between Latin America and Europe. This report maps out the growing footprint of criminal groups from the Western Balkans in the South American cocaine trade, providing an in-depth analysis of their evolution, operations, and impact. The study explores the rise of these groups amid a boom in cocaine production and sustained European demand.

The link includes a pdf report and video of the author discussing key findings.

Fatjona Mejdini Global Initiative

Mar 12, 2025 — 3 Key Findings on Synthetic Drugs in Latin America and the Caribbean from the INCB: The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) reports a significant expansion of synthetic drug markets in Latin America and the Caribbean. While Mexico remains a central hub, countries like Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and El Salvador are increasingly involved in methamphetamine production and trafficking. New psychoactive substances (NPS), including synthetic marijuana and opioids, are emerging across the region, complicating law enforcement efforts. Mexican criminal networks are collaborating with counterparts in Europe, Asia, and Africa, sharing knowledge and exploiting global heroin shortages to expand synthetic opioid distribution. To evade detection, traffickers are turning to diverted medical-grade fentanyl and veterinary products like xylazine, as well as introducing more potent synthetic opioids such as carfentanil and nitazenes.

Victoria Dittmar Insight Crime

Dec 21, 2024 — Fentanyl Express: The global chemical trade behind the opioid crisis: Five-part series revealing the ways in which Chinese fentanyl chemicals fuel America’s deadly opioid crisis. This series includes details on the “master carton” smuggling scheme used by drug traffickers to transport fentanyl-making chemicals from China to Mexico.

Maurice Tamman, Shanon Stapleton Reuters

Nov 26, 2024 — Enduring Flows: The Transit of Drugs in Contemporary Honduras: Honduras is more than a transit point: The country plays an increasingly central role in the international cocaine trade, with drug flows becoming deeply embedded in its political, territorial, and social structures.

Illicit flows are rooted in local dynamics: Rather than being detached phenomena, cocaine trafficking in Honduras depends on networks involving both legal and extra-legal actors—including state officials—who facilitate and control access to critical infrastructure like airstrips and roadways.

Transit countries actively shape drug routes: The case of Honduras challenges conventional views of transit countries as passive conduits, showing how local actors and power structures influence and enable the global drug trade.

Emilia Ziosi University of Oxford

Oct 2, 2024 — DHS 2025 Threat Assessment: Fentanyl smuggling into the U.S. is expected to remain high through 2025, driven by persistent demand and profitability, with Mexico-based TCOs—primarily the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel—continuing to dominate trafficking operations. While DHS seizures of fentanyl and pill presses have declined nearly 40 percent in FY 2024 compared to 2023, volumes remain elevated and are not necessarily reflective of drug flow volumes. Traffickers increasingly use complex supply chains, including sourcing chemicals and additives like xylazine and potent fentanyl analogs such as nitazenes from China, which heightens the lethality and overdose risks in the U.S. market.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Sep 25, 2024 — Central America: The Hurricane of Drug Trafficking: Highlights the increasing role of Central American countries in the midst of drug trafficking and violence. In the past the region was mainly a transit site but is now evolving into a larger role in the overall drug market. 47% of northern Central America (Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize) has biophysical characteristics well suited to coca cultivation.

Since 2020, Costa Rica has been among the top transshipment points for cocaine from South America to the United States and Europe.

Emilia Rojas Sasse DW

Sep 6, 2024 — First International K-9 Handler Course for Fentanyl Detection Concludes: First International Fentanyl Detection Course for handlers and dogs concluded at the Central American Canine Training School in the village of El Cerinal, Barberena, Santa Rosa. Police officers from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Costa Rica participated. The security officers received four weeks of training, with academic instruction provided by Central American experts. This will contribute to the low instances of fentanyl in the region.

Flor Ortiz Guatemala Ministry of Governance

May 29, 2024 — Central America Drug Flights Fall as Traffickers Shift Methods: Since the increased interceptions of aircraft drug trafficking, there has been a rapid decrease in the prevalence of these aircrafts. Insinuating traffickers have adopted different form(s) of trafficking.

Major smuggling routes run though Honduras and Guatemala where Insight Crime analysts believe routes are exploring the jungle more due to lack of security presence. The figure below shows the decrease in clandestine landing strips destroyed by security forces in Guatemala & Honduras.

Alex Papadovassilakis, Sam Woolston Insight Crime

Apr 28, 2024 — How Fentanyl Devastated Guatemala's Opium Trade: The land used to be “covered in poppies.” But that was before opium prices fell from $64 an ounce to about $9.60.

Opium poppy growers are losing their primary income from what was once their only cash crop, forcing many people living in poverty-stricken areas to migrate to the United States.

Local and international authorities fear that Guatemala could become a new trading hub for the chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl.

Simon Romero New York Times

May 1, 2023 — Regional Hubs of Illicit Trade in Central America: Panama, Belize, and Guatemala: Major Drug Trade Hub: Guatemala, Belize, and Panama are critical transshipment points in the regional and global drug trade, connecting South American producers with North American markets.

Use of Legal Infrastructure: Drug traffickers exploit legitimate businesses, shipping companies, and especially Free Trade Zones (e.g., Panama’s Colón and Belize’s Corozal) for smuggling and laundering profits.

Corruption & Collusion: Deep-rooted corruption and collusion with law enforcement, particularly in Guatemala, enable drug networks to operate with impunity.

Yulia Krylova, Daniel Rico George Mason University

Sep 12, 2022 — Meth, Fentanyl, Ecstasy: Synthetic Drugs Flourish in Latin America: Methamphetamine production is increasingly suspected to be spreading southward in Central America, especially into Honduras, though this is based on limited evidence like precursor seizures. Meanwhile, MDMA is trafficked mainly via mail or courier, with small quantities entering Central America and the Caribbean. Larger seizures have occurred further south, such as in Uruguay.

Alessandro Ford Insight Crime

Oct 1, 2020 — Rethinking Illicit Narco-trafficking in Central America: from a social science perspective: Note that this report is fully in Spanish but provides an in-depth discussion on the illicit market in the region. It looks at the actors, the economic impacts of the illicit drug trade, women/children’s role in trafficking and recommendation to move ahead.

Otto Argueta, Ernesto Cortés, Ana Margarita Castillo Chacón, César Villegas Herrera, Ana Cecilia Escalante, Claudia Palma Campos, Esteban Zolezzi FLACSO

Mar 19, 2025 — Interactive Info-database Crisis Group on Drug trafficking and violence in LATAM: This tool lets you pick the drug type and information on it. Background of each, routes, the process of transshipment, the markets, actors/financers. Bringing Fentanyl precursor chemicals into Mexico often requires control of ports, infiltration of port staff and corruption in the security forces. Criminal groups compete fiercely for this control, fighting turf wars and threatening officials who do not comply with their demands. Access to arms and drugs are major lures for local groups to forge ties with larger traffickers; with weapons and money, they can move more easily into extractive businesses including human trafficking, kidnapping and extortion.

Crisis Group