Killer drug: The Mexico connection
Fentanyl is deadly. Thousands of Americans die every year from a drug overdose \u2013 the majority of them after using a synthetic opioid like fentanyl. \n \nFentanyl was developed as a legal, and effective, pain killer. Now, fuelled by insatiable US demand, it\u2019s illicitly produced in makeshift laboratories in Mexico by organised crime groups. \n \nIn the first of a two-part series, Assignment travels to the Mexican Pacific port of Manzanillo. This is one of the main entry points for the chemical ingredients required to make fentanyl. It\u2019s a town where Mexico\u2019s powerful cartels have fought for control, and where the mayor lives under armed guard after a failed assassination attempt. \n \nAlthough the primary destination of Mexican-made fentanyl is the US, Mexico too has a rising number of addicts \u2013 especially in Tijuana on the Mexico / US border. \n \nPresenter / producer: Linda Pressly\nProducer: Tim Mansel\nProducer in Mexico: Ulises Escamilla
[Photo: The Navy is in charge of security at Mexico\u2019s seaports in a bid to stop the chemicals used to make fentanyl coming in from Asia. Credit: Tim Mansel]