Synthetic drugs are becoming increasingly popular in Latin America

The trafficking of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamines (MDMA), fentanyl, and ecstasy is on the rise in Latin America.

This is with new markets, routes, and substances that challenge the traditional dominance of herbal drugs.

“Synthetic drugs have been rising recently in our region and worldwide. However, a distinction must be made between methamphetamines, ecstasy, and fentanyl,” said Carolina Sampó, coordinator of the Center for Transnational Organized Crime Studies in Argentina.

“In the case of [fentanyl], it is a synthetic opioid […] that generates high levels of addiction and causes a high number of overdose deaths in the United States and Canada,” she added.

“Fentanyl is a phenomenon that is much more common in the United States, but it would be a wake-up call if it appeared in the south of the continent,” warned Eugenio Burzaco, organized crime expert and former Argentine security minister.

“The situation regarding fentanyl use is very complex in the U.S., with 50,000 to 60,000 deaths among addicts annually.”

Mexican methamphetamine is exported in large quantities to the Asia-Pacific region, fentanyl is added in South America to make it stronger, and the flow of ecstasy from Europe to the Southern Cone is increasing.

On the other hand, ketamine is becoming an essential ingredient in drug cocktails such as Tusi, also known as pink cocaine.

In recent months, Colombian and Panamanian authorities noted an increase in the marketing and use of Tusi.

Tusi is composed of cocaine, LSD, and MDMA, a combination of psychotropic substances that produce hallucinogenic effects and a feeling of euphoria.

Thousands of young people consume the drug, prompting criminal organizations to seek them out to buy and sell the highly addictive drug, radio station “RCN Colombia” reported Sept. 20.

In September, Panamanian authorities raided laboratories in Panama City to manufacture Tusi, while the National Police arrested Colombian and Mexican nationals involved in the crime.

For Burzaco, “Latin America is on the rise in the trafficking of methamphetamines and ecstasy, and their marketing sometimes replaces plant-derived drugs such as coca and marijuana.”

Another substance that has authorities on alert is kratom, a tropical plant native to Southeast Asia whose leaves contain compounds with psychotropic effects.

On Sept. 8, Chilean Customs reported the seizure of forty kilograms of kratom at Santiago International Airport in two packages from the United Arab Emirates.

Following the discovery, María José Rodríguez, head of Chilean Customs, stated that this drug was new to the illicit market and warned that its consumption was highly harmful to health and could be fatal when combined with other substances.

The trafficking of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in Latin America is increasing, perhaps even more so in Chile, which, along with Brazil and Argentina, is one of the largest NPS centers in the region.

According to a 2021 report on synthetic drugs by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Chilean authorities identified more than sixty NPS in December 2020, the second highest number in Latin America after Brazil.

“Synthetic drugs appear to be on the rise and are not necessarily competing with herbal drugs.”

“On the contrary, the increase in the use of all drugs in recent years seems to show that it is difficult to replace one type of drug with another, but rather to take into account new users and those who use different types of drugs at different times in their lives,” concluded Sampó.