BOSTON — More than a dozen local law enforcement leaders from across Boston and the country went to one of the most dangerous places in Mexico. They went to combat the drug trafficking problem and to prevent them from coming here.
"We are getting killed with the heroin here," said Brian Boyle, Special Agent for the DEA in the New England area.
"All the heroin we are seeing here in Massachusetts is coming out of Mexico."
Boyle, along with nearly a dozen local and national law enforcement officers just got back from Mexico to combat the war on drugs.
Their first stop was a meth lab that was just busted in the middle of a jungle in Mexico. It's part of the Sinaloa drug cartel.
"It was producing seven tons of meth every three days," Boyle said.
And that meth was being shipped to Massachusetts.
"Most of it is from across the border," he added. "It could be in cars, tractor trailers…"
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Boyle and the crew risked their own lives knowing that members of the drug cartel knew about their visit. The crew was in a bulletproof truck with members of the Mexican police armed with guns.
"Cartels control them. All the way up to the governors of the states," he said. "The police can’t go into certain areas of Mexico. You have cartels running rampant in these areas."
In the end, local law enforcement officials say they just want to stop this altogether.
"We have to take these investigation phone numbers and give them to Mexico, work with Mexican cartel members here in the United States," Boyle said.
Officials are now encouraging all their local leaders to collaborate with Mexican officials to combat the opioid crisis right here in New England.
Cox Media Group