Argentina becoming meth trade hub

Argentina is becoming an increasingly important hub in efforts by Mexican drug gangs to manufacture methamphetamine for the U.S. market, officials say.

The execution-style slayings of three Buenos Aires men in what appeared to be a hit by Mexican drug mobsters has shocked Argentines into realizing the country has become a part of a three-way ephedrine highway, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Officials say a crackdown in Mexico has forced smugglers to import ephedrine, a key legal ingredient in the manufacture of meth, from Asia via Argentina, to be manufactured in Mexico and ultimately sold in the lucrative U.S. market.

When Mexican traffickers arrive they bring in organized crime and violence, Michael Sanders, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, told the newspaper. That has unfortunately proved to be the case in Argentina.

Mexico last year moved to ban most ephedrine imports and started to aggressively target meth labs. Meanwhile, Argentina, already a major pharmaceutical importer from China and India, saw its imports of ephedrine soar from 2.9 tons in 2004 to 19.1 tons in 2007, the Times reported.