2023-01-18
BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM - In Belgium and the Netherlands, Mexican laborers have raised a new branch of the drug industry: crystal meth. Arthur Debruyne portrays all those involved. 'Buying gloves? Just tell those mexi to work'.
 

'Through the expertise of a handful of Mexicans, Belgium and the Netherlands have quickly become world players in the production of a drug that, as a cheaper synthetic alternative to cocaine according to the United Nations, is opening up new markets worldwide, often among vulnerable groups. Based on dozens of interviews in six countries with law enforcement officials, underworld brokers, drug traffickers, users and, for the first time, Mexican lab technicians, supplemented by research in criminal files and judgments, Latin America correspondent Arthur Debruyne sheds light on this new branch of organized crime in the Low Countries. 

The result of this years-long investigation has already appeared in De Standaard Weekblad. Later this year, "The Mexican Method" will be published as a book by Ambo Anthos (NL). 

Team members

Arthur Debruyne

Arthur Debruyne is Belgian independent journalist based in Mexico City.

need resources for your own investigative story?

Journalismfund Europe's flexible grants programmes enable journalists to produce relevant public interest stories with a European mind-set from international, national, and regional perspectives.

Apply

support independent cross-border investigative journalism

We rely on your support to continue the work that we do. Make a gift of any amount today.

Donate