Whack-a-mole: Huge amounts of imported medicine, chemicals fuel Mexico's booming meth industry

And the U.S. and Mexican governments continue to pursue the fantasy that they can stop the moles.

Huge amounts of imported medicine, chemicals fuel Mexico's booming meth industry: "Exploiting loopholes in the global economy, Mexican crime syndicates are importing mass quantities of the cold medicines and common chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine - turning Mexico into the No. 1 source for all meth sold in the United States, law enforcement agents say. ...

Cartels have quickly learned to use dummy corporations, false labeling and lax customs enforcement in China, India and Bangladesh to smuggle tons of the pills into Mexico for conversion into methamphetamine. Ordinary cold, flu and allergy medicine used to make methamphetamine - pills banned in Mexico and restricted in the United States - are still widely available in many countries.

In the past 18 months, Mexican armed forces have raided more than 325 sophisticated factories capable of producing a million pounds of potent methamphetamine a year." Nov. 23, 2010, Washington Post