Q COSTARICA — Costa Rica and Central America are already grappling with the effects of fentanyl — from its growing market and rising death tolls to the labs producing it and the violence tied to its trade.
Regional authorities warn that the next stage could see these countries become a new corridor for organized crime groups to smuggle the chemical precursors needed to produce fentanyl pills and other synthetic drugs into the United States and Mexico.
Last week in Nashville, Tennessee, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) met with police chiefs from the area to discuss this very threat. They examined the different routes criminal groups use to move these supplies.
Representatives from Costa Rica’s Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) and the Policía Control de Drogas (PCD) – Drug Control Police – attended the meeting, sharing the country’s current situation. They highlighted how the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) cartels are working with local partners to control the North American drug market.
Michael Soto, OIJ’s deputy director, told CR Hoy in Nashville, Tennessee, that there’s “widespread concern” about the issue. That’s why the DEA is pushing hard to stop fentanyl’s spread into Central America and to block the chemicals used in the labs set up by traffickers.
“As we look ahead, what happens in Mexico and the U.S. usually makes its way to Latin America. They want us to share information because they expect fentanyl or its precursors will eventually pass through Latin America or Central America on their way into the U.S. We have to be ready.”
Clash between the Chapitos and Mayito in Costa Rica
Even though the Sinaloa cartel still dominates the drug trade, the downfall of its key leaders—Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera—has triggered a fierce power struggle within the organization.
El Chapo’s sons, known as “Los Chapitos,” hold most of the power, but “Mayito Flaco,” son of El Mayo, is pushing hard to carve out his own space.
The DEA reports that “Los Chapitos and their supporters carried out violent attacks against Mexican military and police forces, using military-grade weapons, setting fires, and blocking roads and highways. In September 2023, Ovidio Guzmán López was extradited to the U.S.
Los Chapitos are caught in an internal war against Ismael Zambada García, a longtime drug trafficker and El Mayo’s former partner, who has been running the Sinaloa Cartel alongside him for over 30 years.”
Mike Vigil, former DEA director of operations, told CR Hoy that this violence could spill into Costa Rica.
These groups want to control every step of the cocaine trade—from growing the crops and processing the paste to turning it into crystal.
“They’re heavily involved in Ecuador and Costa Rica because of transportation routes, so that’s where we need to watch closely,” he said.Vigil also explained why cartels are so interested in fentanyl.
Unlike marijuana or cocaine, which rely on crops and carry risks of loss, synthetic drugs like fentanyl need only chemicals and secret labs to produce. That means lower costs and less risk, making it a very attractive business.
Fernando Ramírez, who once led the Costa Rican Institute on Drugs (ICD) and served as a criminal judge, confirmed that at the most recent meeting he attended on behalf of Costa Rica—part of the Global Coalition Against Synthetic Drugs led by the United States in December 2024—there was already discussion about labs operating in Guatemala, given its closeness to Mexico.
Ramírez argues that Costa Rica faces a much lower risk than many other countries in the region. This is thanks to the strict enforcement of chemical precursor controls by the ICD’s Precursor Control and Oversight Unit, a fact acknowledged by the INCB.
He explained, “Our country’s risk isn’t as high as in places where controls are weaker or where legislation relies on the INCB’s resolutions from the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to regulate these substances.”
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