Mexico City, Mexico – Fentanyl overdose-related deaths have increased by 636% in northwestern Mexico in the past three years, according to a study published this week by the non-profit Elementa DDHH.
The report looks into drug usage in northwestern Mexico, specifically in Tijuana and Mexicali, the most populous cities in the border state of Baja California.
As a synthetic drug, fentanyl is a cheaper alternative to heroin. Its ease of production and trafficking has virtually ended poppy cultivation in Mexico and has displaced heroin as the opioid of choice by addicts.
The report cites that the first case ever reported of fentanyl consumption in Baja California was in 2018, and by 2019, three-quarters of drugs sold in Tijuana and Mexicali as heroin were laced with fentanyl. By 2023, 100% of drugs sold in the region tested positive for fentanyl.
Located on Mexico’s border with California, Baja California has turned into a strategic enclave for drug trafficking as its location is pivotal for cartels pushing narcotics into their largest market, the U.S., and increasing violence and organized crime presence is a result.
By 2024, Baja California was the fifth most dangerous state in Mexico. Its homicide rate, 56 murders for every 100,000 inhabitants, is the third highest in the country with over 77% of its homicides occurring in Tijuana, a border city with 2.2 million inhabitants.
Moreover, enforced disappearances in the state have increased by 240.4% from 2015 to 2022.
The state’s location is key not only for drug trafficking but also for domestic and foreign immigration. Baja California has the highest population of people of foreign origin in Mexico, and is the main return point for Mexican immigrants expatriated from the United States, accounting for 52.4% of all deported Mexicans in 2021.
In fact, the vast majority of fentanyl users are immigrant men who have attempted to cross the U.S. border or have been deported by American authorities, according to the report.
In the U.S., nearly 70% of the over 100,000 drug overdoses reported last year are attributed to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The production and distribution of fentanyl has turned into an urgent threat to Mexico’s northern neighbor.
During the first months of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, Mexican authorities seized 1,252 kilograms and 738,900 pills of fentanyl.
Moreover, starting in January 2025, Sheinbaum’s administration has started a preventive campaign to educate Mexicans on the dangers of fentanyl consumption. The “Stay away from drugs. Fentanyl kills,” campaign is broadcast on TV and radio, and its program is taught in schools throughout the country.
“Fentanyl in our country is not really a problem, there is not a crisis as there is in the United States, in some cities in the United States, in some cities in Canada, mainly, but we do not want it to reach our country and therefore, we started this campaign against fentanyl and to make people aware of what fentanyl means and the damage it can cause to health,” said Sheinbaum at a press conference on January.
