Psuedoephedrine pills, they made big news in Belize in the latter part of
last year as multiple shipments each with millions of pills were intercepted.
So it seems that from all outward indications – Belizean Customs authorities
have cracked down and made it difficult and costly for transcontinental traffickers
to use this port of entry to get the pills unto the American mainland. But when
one door is closed, another is open – or it is forced open. That next
door is in Guatemala, where 2 days ago, authorities there made what their police
spokesman refers to as “the biggest seizure of methamphetamine precursor
chemicals in Guatemala” on Tuesday.
They confiscated approximately 10 million pseudoephedrine pills worth about
$33 million. The pills arrived on a ship from India and were detected based
on information from the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
In September of last year the Belize Customs Department busted a shipment
of over 10 million pseudoephedrine pills worth about $20-40 million in containers
that were opened after sitting on the port compound for 20 days. The pseudo-ephedrine
is has Mexico as its final destination where it is then used in the manufacturing
of the drug called crystal meth – which is widely used in the United States.
Since Mexico put a ban on the importation of those chemicals, the traffickers
have tried to funnel the pills through Belize and now Guatemala.
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