The federal magistrate confirmed on Wednesday that they're pursuing seven senior business executives who are representing Belgian pharmaceutical companies suspected of supplying medical substances to a Mexican drug lord. With these substances, the drug trafficker has been able to produce millions of methamphetamine pills.
The court will decide on 5 April if the seven men will be taken to trial.
The supplied medical substances contained ephedrine, which is normally a harmless product used in cough syrups. However the substance can also be used in the production of particularly strong methamphetamine, also known as “crystal meth of ice”.
The Belgian companies have supplied 66 million ephedrine pills to Ezio Figueroa-Vasquez, who used the pills to produce drugs sold at the market for 360 million euros.
The companies claim that they had simply ignored the final destination of the pills they sold. However, following a closer look at email and telephone exchanges, the court estimates that they companies knew where they went.
Ezio Figueroa-Vasquez is the most notorious and wanted methamphetamine producer and is sought after by American authorities where he risks a life term prison sentence.
(Source: Belga)
