Synthetic drugs, crypto, social media redefining cartels
by: Julian Resendiz
Posted: Mar 18, 2025 / 04:27 PM CDT
Updated: Mar 18, 2025 / 06:31 PM CDT
New DEA chief in El Paso takes fight vs. transnational groups to internet, high-tech labs and crypto wallets
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Much has changed since Omar Arellano was busting drug dens in northern New Mexico as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Mobile Enforcement Teams.
Things were simpler back then. Suspects cooked methamphetamine inside their mobile homes and dealers stayed out in the open at local hotels. Marijuana was still the most widely used illicit drug and a fifth of state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide identified it as their principal drug threat.
Senate passes bill that would increase penalties for fentanyl traffickers
Fast forward two decades and the newly appointed special agent in charge of the DEA’s El Paso Division is now facing challenges unimaginable during his rookie year in federal law enforcement.
“It’s no longer plant-based drugs that we’re dealing with; now they’re synthetic based. Their limit to how much drug they can make is how much precursors they can get and how many chemists they can get on board,” Arellano said on Tuesday from his new office in El Paso.
https://www.borderreport.com/immigration/border-crime/synthetic-drugs-crypto-social-media-redefining-cartels/
