Macrolaboratory of a Mexican cartel discovered in a farmhouse in Lleida

BarcelonaIt was sold as a concentrated vanilla, in liquid form, ideal for adding a few drops to coffee, accompanying some desserts, and even, now that it's summer, for combining with good ice cream. But it wasn't just any vanilla: it came directly from Mexico, the territory where this product originates and from which colonizers exported it to Europe five hundred years ago. It was twelve tons of vanilla making the same journey: leaving Jalisco and traveling on board a maritime container to France, then boarding a truck and being transported to a logistics center in Barcelona, the last stop before the final destination, an isolated farmhouse in Almenar, in El Segrià. But what were twelve tons of Mexican vanilla essence doing on a farm far from everything and with a swimming pool in a Lleida town of 3,000 inhabitants?

It was six in the morning on July 6th and a crowd of National Police agents forcibly entered this farmhouse in Almenar. There, the smell was much more chemical than that of sweet vanilla, like chlorine, and the pots full of liquid had turned into a kind of translucent crystal. The walls were covered with aluminum foil, there were several fans running at full speed, freezers and refrigerators, and large pots on stoves. Some vanilla pots actually contained methamphetamine in liquid form, and that farmhouse in Lleida had become a clandestine laboratory of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel, one of the main Mexican drug mafias.

The discovery of the clandestine laboratory culminated a joint investigation by the National Police and the French Anti-Narcotics Office, which has led to the dismantling of a branch of this cartel established in Catalonia and the arrest of 13 people – twelve have already been remanded in custody – as well as the seizure of 2.5 tons of methamphetamines. It was a structured organization, with emissaries who maintained contact with Mexico and drug cooks, who had a very high turnover to avoid detection. "We have struck a blow against this cartel," celebrated the chief commissioner of the Central Narcotics Brigade, Alberto Morales.

One of the largest kitchens

The Lleida laboratory is one of the largest methamphetamine labs detected in Europe, with the capacity to extract 800 kilograms of this drug in just two days. In fact, the police have drawn a parallel with fifth-generation food. First, the vanilla was evaporated, then the methamphetamine was purified, which turned into crystal, and finally, it was purified with acetone. One of the obstacles the cartel has faced is the permanent heatwave that Catalonia is suffering, as these processes must be carried out at low temperatures.

"Methamphetamine is no longer a threat, it is a reality," stated Chief Inspector Alejandro Martín, who admitted that this drug, which years ago had no place in Spain, is now one of his main battles. For some time now, Mexican cartels have taken over the synthetic drug market, using chemicals they usually buy from China. It is the same cartels that also produce fentanyl, but Martín has ruled out that this dangerous drug has reached Spain. "It is a threat, but it has not arrived," he stated.

Warning to France

The initial alert for this case came from France, where drug enforcement specialists detected that this shipping container contained methamphetamine. From there, the National Police organized a controlled delivery that ended at the Lleida laboratory, where they entered just as the traffickers had the methamphetamine ready to sell. We are talking about one of the most expensive drugs, which exceeds 50,000 euros per kilogram and is at similar levels to cocaine.

Of the thirteen detainees, seven are Mexican. In fact, five come from the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco, considered the main stronghold and operations center of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel, while the other two are from the state of Sinaloa. These two cartels are at odds. The operation, which has been christened Vainille, is not yet over, as the police are investigating whether this branch of the cartel can lead them to other tentacles they may have in Spain. For the moment, the police have not identified that these traffickers had contact with local drug clans in the area: they chose this point in Lleida for road communications and because it was an isolated place.