Mexico President Andrés López Obrador blames fentanyl crisis on U.S., denies his country produces the opioid

Mexico President Andrés López Obrador says his country doesn’t produce or consume fentanyl. “The president is lying,” Mexican security analyst David Saucedo said. “The Mexican cartels, above all the CJNG” — the Jalisco New Generation cartel — “and the Sinaloa cartel have learned to manufacture it.” (Manuel Velasquez / Getty Images)

MEXICO CITY — Despite enormous evidence to the contrary, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says his country doesn’t produce or consume fentanyl, appearing to portray the synthetic opioid epidemic largely as a U.S. problem.

His statement came during a visit to Mexico this past week by Liz Sherwood-Randall, the White House homeland security adviser, to discuss the fentanyl crisis and also amid calls by some Republicans to have the U.S. military attack drug labs in Mexico.