MEXICO CITY – Mexican authorities recently confiscated 37 tons of chemicals used to make methamphetamines, the Attorney General’s Office said Friday.

“This seizure represents a heavy economic blow to organized crime,” the AG office said in a communique detailing separate confiscations carried out in the states of Tamaulipas and Colima by federal prosecutors and customs agents.

“Intelligence information” led authorities to 17 tons of 2-phenylacetamide entering Mexico through the customs post at Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, which lies just across the border from Laredo, Texas.

While approximately 20 tons of sodium phenylacetate were intercepted on arrival in the Pacific port of Manzanillo, Colima.

“Sodium phenylacetate and 2-phenylacetamide are derivates of phenylacetic acid, which is employed in clandestine laboratories processing methamphetamine,” the AG office said.

The 37 tons of ingredients seized by authorities could have produced as much as 25 tons of crystal meth, the statement said.

Mexico is the principal source of crystal meth entering the United States. EFE