A sharp increase in drug seizures has been reported at Mexico’s west coast ports, with caches discovered inside containers and vessels’ sea chests, says protection and indemnity club NorthStandard.

The alert follows the seizure this month at the country’s largest container port, Manzanillo, of 88 tonnes of chemicals needed to make synthetic drugs.

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Ports are a “critical part” of the criminal infrastructure of one of the most powerful cartels, the Sinaloa, which uses them to receive precursor chemicals and South American cocaine for trafficking into the US, according to a May report by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

The reported increase in seizures at west coast ports was probably linked to this Latin American drugs trade, said the NorthStandard Mexico correspondent.

“The narcotics have been mostly found inside containers or the vessel’s sea chest,” said P&I Services Mexico.

“If narcotics are found by the crew or another, adequate legal representation is of the utmost importance as well as immediate reporting of the same.”

The failure to immediately report discoveries to authorities has been seen as an indication that the crew or owners were in some way involved, said Norwegian insurer Gard in a similar warning last year.

Violence linked to Mexico’s organised crime gangs has worsened over the past five years as Sinaloa and other major cartels compete with smaller rivals for the lucrative trade.

The DEA said the Pacific coast port of Mazatlan was wholly controlled by the Sinaloa cartel, which charges other drug trafficking organisations to use the port.

A long history of alliances with drug trafficking groups also gave the Sinaloa access to the port of Manzanillo, said the report.

The port is “strategically significant because of its location on the central Pacific Coast and its high volume of shipping traffic due to widespread use of the port by foreign countries to exchange legitimate trade goods with Mexico and to refuel”, the agency said in its 2024 national drug threat assessment.

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“The Sinaloa cartel maintains logistical and corrupt government contacts at other maritime ports on both coasts of Mexico.”

Gard last year reported an increase in seizures over the previous 12 months in Mexico.

It said the drugs might have been placed on the vessel at a previous port or anchorage in Mexico, especially for vessels heading towards the US and Europe.

The Mexican Navy had a record year of seizures in 2023 during its long-running battle with drug cartels, mostly from small vessels intercepted at sea, according to local reports.

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