Mexican Forces Destroy Narco Lab Ran By Sinaloa Cartel Faction In Hit Worth Millions

Mexican armed forces delivered another blow to drug trafficking cartels before Christmas Day, particularly the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as "La Mayiza."

Concretely, the Navy seized a multi-million dollar facility in the municipality of Corral Viejo, in eastern Sinaloa. The clandestine lab belonged to "La Mayiza," opponents of "Los Chapitos" in the Sinaloa turf wars that erupted after Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López were arrested and extradited to the U.S. back in July.

In a statement, the Mexican Navy said that although no arrests were made, personnel destroyed the lab estimated and seized more than a ton of finished product, 300 liters of liquid finished drugs along with thousands of liters of chemical precursors and essential ingredients for the production of opioids.

Authorities said the "narco lab" was among the largest clandestine facilities found by the Navy in the state of Sinaloa due to amount of materials and hardware located inside the facility.

In order to avoid the drugs from being distributed or used by the population, authorities destroyed the laboratory which was located in a very remote area of east Sinaloa.

Drug seizures by armed forces

Members of the Mexican Army have also been busy during recent days.

In Mazatlán, Army personnel seized marijuana, nine vehicles, seven grenades, 11 ballistic vests along with 1,157 rounds of ammunition on Dec. 20.

Two days later, they found 98 kilograms and 1,260 liters of methamphetamines, 200 liters of ethanol, 169 liters of acetone and two vehicles.

According to Sinaloa's Secretariat of Public Safety, the seizures represented a loss of 396 million pesos —nearly $20 million— to drug trafficking groups.

Largest fentanyl bust in Mexican history

December has been a very successful month for Mexican authorities as they continue their efforts to combat drug cartels.

Earlier this month, Mexican authorities secured the largest fentanyl bust in the nation's history. Military personnel seized approximately 2,410 pounds of the synthetic opioid with an estimated value of $400 million.

Further investigations suggest the cargo could belong to a man known as "El Chapo Isidro," a key member in the Beltrán Leyva Cartel structure in Sinaloa and one of the top opioid producers for the Sinaloa Cartel.

Meza Flores is the alleged leader of the Meza Flores Transnational Criminal Organization, based in Sinaloa. The group is allegedly responsible for the possession, distribution, and importation of large quantities of opioids into the United States.

"El Chapo Isidro" was originally indicted in 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on drug trafficking charges. He remains at-large, but the FBI and the United States Department of State's Narcotics Rewards Program offers up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest.

According to Mike Vigil, former Chief of International Operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), "El Chapo Isidro" operates in the Sinaloa municipalities of Guasave, Los Mochis and Mazatlán, as well as in Los Cabos, Baja California, and even counts with strong influences in Central and South America as well as in the U.S.