Mexico is the transit and distribution hub for most drugs that enter the United States, including 60% of the cocaine. Mexican drug syndicates, such as the Arellano Felix brothers, have come to rival the Colombian syndicates and increasingly they dominate the US traffic in synthetic drugs (principally methamphetamine). Routes and methods of transport are constantly changing, and may involve air-drops, speed boats, or migrant children used as couriers. Chemicals used for making or processing drugs – including ephedrine, a key component of methamphetamine – travel in the opposite direction, from the USA into Mexico.
