Fentanyl cartels lure chemistry students to work as ‘cooks’

In their quest to build fentanyl empires, Mexican criminal groups are turning to an unusual talent pool: not hit men or corrupt police officers, but chemistry students studying at Mexican universities, write Natalie Kitroeff and Paulina Villegas for The New York Times.

People who make fentanyl in cartel labs, who are called cooks, told The New York Times that they needed workers with advanced knowledge of chemistry to help make the drug stronger and “get more people hooked”, as one cook put it.

The cartels also have a more ambitious goal: to synthesise the chemical compounds, known as precursors, that are essential to making fentanyl, freeing them from having to import those raw materials from China. If they succeed, US officials say, it would represent a terrifying new phase in the fentanyl crisis, in which Mexican cartels have more control than ever over one of the deadliest drugs in recent history. “It would make us the kings of Mexico,” said one chemistry student who has been cooking fentanyl for six months.
Full report on The New York Times site