I can’t believe that a cartel would leave money on the table.
So this is most certainly just a deflection.
Fentanyl is killing too many customers.
They are concerned about the ability of dead addicts to pay for any and all product(s) in the future...
Just like Big Pharma will never sell us something that will actually cure us (a well person doesn’t need medicine after all!), some of the smarter dope dealers don’t want to sell a good customer something that will take them out of the consumer pipeline.
The cartels have always operated within the margins, but make no mistake.... they understand that they cannot and will not withstand a full court press by the US government with maximum pressure on Mexican authorities.
They learned this when they killed the DEA agent (Kiki). Many of the headmen were taken out to include the big boss and they lost a LOT of money.
As others have said above, the cocaine, meth, and perhaps most importantly under this administration, human smuggling, are more than profitable and it will not incur the wrath of our government.