Mexican authorities announced a new seizure fentanylroughly a month before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who is threatening to sharply increase tariffs if his country’s southern neighbor does not “stop” illegal immigration and drug trafficking to the US.

Above 400,000 fentanyl pills and six tons of chemical precursor materialsused to make this synthetic opioid, which causes tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the US each year, were confiscated and were destroyedthe Mexican Attorney General’s Office announced.

The seizures were made during various operations in the state of Jalisco (west), a stronghold of the powerful Nea Genia cartel.

In early December, the Mexican federal government announced a record seizure of over a ton of fentanyl pills, equivalent to about 20,000 doses. Washington recorded this operation.

Republican President-elect Trump has confirmed after his election victory that he will go ahead with imposing additional tariffs of 25% on “all” goods imported into the US from January 20, the day of his inauguration.

These tariffs “will remain in effect until all drugs, especially fentanyl, and all illegal immigrants stop this invasion of our country!”, the tycoon pointed out.

Fentanyl, an FDA-approved pain reliever, is synthetic opioid one hundred times stronger than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin, according to the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

He is blamed for dozens thousands of American deaths from overdose on an annual basis in recent years, according to the same source.

Washington accuses the two most powerful Mexican drug cartels, the New Generation of Jalisco and Sinaloa, of manufacturing and trafficking fentanyl with chemically ingredients that import from the China.