American among three arrested after car chase led to 110,000-pill fentanyl bust in Mexico

An American citizen was among three people police say were arrested for carrying 110,000 fentanyl pills in Mexico.

Authorities in Chihuahua arrested an American woman and two men, one of whom holds dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship, according to Mexico’s Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection. Mexican authorities carried out "intelligence work and surveillance actions" to identify the trio. Several Mexican agencies worked alongside the FBI to make the arrests.

Those arrested have yet to be publicly identified. The Mexican-American man also had a warrant out for his arrest in the U.S. for alleged drug dealing, Mexican officials said.

Authorities located the trio traveling by car through Ciudad Juárez. When the driver spotted the police, they fled, Mexican authorities said. Police engaged in a brief car chase before stopping them and making the arrests.

Inside the car, authorities found 10 bags of fentanyl pills, four ID cards and three cell phones.

Mexican authorities have announced several major fentanyl seizures in recent months. In March, police found 275,000 fentanyl pills — weighing 70 pounds — hidden inside boxes of sliced cactus, CBS News reports. Police say a 29-year-old man was taking them to Arizona through the Mexican state of Sonora.

The drugs were valued at $6.5 million.

In December, police seized more than 2,400 pounds of fentanyl in what officials called the largest seizure in Mexican history, according to CBS News. Two men were arrested and several guns were also seized during the operation.

President Donald Trump has cited the flow of fentanyl from Mexico into the U.S. as a reason for his tariff threats earlier this year. The president in February announced he was imposing a 25 percent tariff on goods imported from Canada and Mexico to hold the nations “accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.”

In response, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government has taken “significant actions” against drug traffickers and noted a 50 percent drop in fentanyl seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border between October 2024 and January 2025.

The U.S. has also placed 50 percent tariffs on steel imports from Mexico. However, Trump officials appear poised to strike a deal to reduce or eliminate the tariffs, Reuters reports.