Federal officials announced the largest seizure of methamphetamine precursor chemicals in U.S. history in Houston on Wednesday morning.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the record-breaking bust happened after officials intercepted more than 300,000 kilograms of chemicals shipped from China and bound for Mexico’s Sinaloa Drug Cartel.
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It all took place at the Port of Houston, where the U.S. Department of Justice said agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) confiscated six shipping containers of benzyl alcohol and six containers of N-methyl formamide.
These are industrial solvents that drug makers can easily convert into meth. Together, the chemicals could have produced nearly 190,000 kilograms of meth, with an estimated street value of $569 million, officials said.
To move the 1,300 barrels of chemicals, investigators required 24 eighteen-wheelers to haul them to a secure HSI storage site.
“This seizure represents the largest law enforcement interdiction of precursor chemicals in history,” Pirro reiterated. “I want you to look at these barrels and imagine dead Americans in their place; that’s the kind of devastation this seizure has prevented.”
Officials said the chemicals were originally shipped from China and were destined for secret labs under the control of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
“China was sending over 700,000 lbs on the high seas to the Sinaloa Cartel before my office seized them. Because of President Trump and Secretary Rubio declared the Sinaloa Cartel a Foreign Terrorist Organization, we can now strike faster and hit harder.”
ICE officials said that because the cartel was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) earlier this year, prosecutors were able to use terrorism forfeiture laws to secure the seizure warrant. In other words, designation gave prosecutors new authority to act swiftly.
“This marks the first time a seizure warrant was issued under the terrorism statute for material support of a foreign terrorist group,” ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons explained. “By cutting off the supply of precursor chemicals before they reached cartel labs, we’ve prevented hundreds of thousands of pounds of methamphetamine from flooding American communities.”
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials also added how the seizure highlights the growing role of the Houston-Galveston seaport in cartel supply chains.
Federal officials stressed that the investigation is ongoing.
“The Sinaloa Cartel’s activities are not merely criminal; they are acts of terror that threaten our nation’s security,” Jud Murdock, CBP’s Houston Field Operations Director, noted. “This seizure is not just a victory for law enforcement. It’s a victory for every family and every individual who’s been impacted by the devastation of drug addiction and cartel violence.”
In 2023, more than 34,800 Americans died of overdoses from psychostimulants, primarily methamphetamine.