On the hunt for poppies In Mexico — America's biggest heroin supplier
The farmers aren't financed by the cartels. The costs of eradication are absorbed by farmers
NPR (US)
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Mexico's southwestern Guerrero state is now the top source of heroin for the American drug epidemic, which resulted in more than 64,000 overdose deaths in 2016, mostly from heroin or other opioids. The Drug Enforcement Administration says 93 percent of heroin analyzed by the agency in 2015 came from Mexico, more than double the amount from five years before. "The farmers are the ones who get exploited most. But if they aren't offered a better alternative, they'll just keep returning to poppy," says Lt. Col. Juan Jose Orzua Padilla. "I'm not justifying it, I just understand their needs."
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