President Donald Trump’s crackdown on drug cartels and unprecedented pressure on the Mexican government has made the drug lord feel in a pinch, according to the New York Times.

A drug bust and a gust of arrest led to the cartel bosses downsizing their operations and fired employees. According to NYT’s Sunday report. Fearing an imminent arrest or death, other cartel operatives halted the operation completely and went into hiding as the Trump administration successfully forced the Mexican government to take on producers of illegal drugs flowing through the US southern border. (Related: Democrats complain about the “parents” of immigrants who have been caught ice arrests outside schools.

Recent attacks have led to fentanyl production in Sinaloa, Mexico, home to the ruthless Sinaloa cartel.

“You can’t settle down, you can’t even sleep because you don’t know when they’ll catch you,” a high ranked member of the Sinaloa cartel told NYT, speaking anonymously. “The most important thing right now is to survive.”

The policy change began the day Trump returned to his elliptical office. Republicans have signed an executive order that urged the deployment of US troops to the tropical border, designation of drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), and reopening border wall construction. The administration also reportedly strengthened its secret drone programme to detect fentanyl labs across Mexico.

The campaign became a predominantly bilateral effort after Trump threatened sweep tariffs on all Mexican imports, except when the government did more to control illegal immigration and illegal drug trafficking. Faced with the potential for economic ruin, President Claudia Sheinbaum deployed to her own borders at 10,000 borders. She then won a major bust against organized crime in the country.

Under the auspices of the customs contract, Mexican officials were given a month to adequately crack down on drugs and illegal immigration. The Mexico tariff deadline is Tuesday. The Trump administration has yet to declare whether it is satisfied enough to abolish the import tax threat.

Sheinbaum then acquired a massive drug attack slate at that point. Since the deployment of the Mexican National Guard began on February 5th, Mexican law enforcement authorities have given birth to around five tons of methane, 453 kg of cocaine and 55 kg of fentanyl.

In February, Mexican authorities seized about $4.4 million in methamphetamine (nearly $40 million in methamphetamine) at Cartel Heartland in Sinaloa. Later that month, the Mexican government handed over 29 drug bosses to the United States, including one drug allegedly behind the 1985 drug enquiries and murders, and had long been hoping for American authorities.

“Trump has set a deadline and we’re seeing all the results we’ve been able to see for years in a month,” Mexico City-based security analyst Jaime López told NYT. “The government is sending a message that when they really want to, they can put that pressure on them.”

Sinbaum has arrested around 900 people in Sinaloa alone since October, and her law enforcement has acquired fentanyl in the past few months, just like the previous year.

“We are fighting organized crime groups, and there is no doubt about this,” Sinbaum said at a press conference in February. “We’re chasing organized crime.”

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