How L.A. became the cartels' global distribution center and why it's part of an even bigger problem

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles International Airport is the drug trafficking hub of the world, according to law enforcement officials.

Hidden in the hundreds of thousands of bags that move through the airport every day are illegal narcotics, slipping past security and being shipped all over the globe. That enormous, chaotic place has become the cartels' global distribution center, and as frightening as that sounds, what's happening at LAX is just a symptom of an even bigger problem.

An ABC7 investigation finds that LAX is likely the drug trafficking hub of the world, as passenger volume limits the ability to screen for narcotics.

A look at logistics

"Los Angeles, and the area around it, it is the number one hub for drug activity in the country," said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. "Mexican cartels use the Los Angeles area to get drugs into the country and then distributed throughout the country, and also internationally."

Estrada grew up in L.A. and is now a key part of the fight against the ruthless dealers that are now on our streets. The more drugs the cartels pour into the city, the more money they make and the more powerful they become.

Why L.A.?

Estrada said it is partly because of those long-established drug trafficking networks.

"Mexican cartels have trusted lieutenants and individuals in this area that helped bring the drugs into it, and then broker deals in the Los Angeles area," he explained. "There's a ton of drugs that get sold in the L.A. area."

Supply and demand

While some of those drugs are distributed in L.A., huge quantities are shipped to global markets. It's big business and distribution is everything, and LAX is just one cog in the system. Southern California has become the cartels' unwilling partner.

"Number one, we have one of the busiest airports for passenger and cargo in the United States, if not the world," said John Pasciucco with Homeland Security Investigations. "We have the largest seaport over here, as well as we're 90 miles north of the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere. In addition, we have one of eight international mail facilities."

Pasciucco says smugglers are brilliant in finding ways to get the drugs out - they adapt, diversify and are constantly changing tactics. Their reward is money.

Drugs like cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine are abundant in L.A. and as a result, they're cheap. But if you can get the drugs into other markets, like Canada, Australia or Japan, it increases in value 20-fold or more.

"You can get a pound of meth here for probably $800 in Los Angeles, and you could turn it into $200,000 with a 16-hour flight," explained Pasciucco when discussing the profit margin in New Zealand.

From nondescript travelers to airport employees, that kind of money lures many people to become drug runners.

"We have a case right now where an individual was smuggling methamphetamine through LAX to Japan," said Estrada. "He was caught, and now he faces a very lengthy sentence. He told us he was going to get paid over $120,000, just for moving this one shipment."

Priority mail

But it's not just what's going out, it's also about what's coming in. Fentanyl has already reinvented itself. In 2018, I was shown a brick of pure fentanyl delivered from a lab in China - that's how it used to get here.

"The U.S. government got pretty good at identifying those packages coming in and were seizing it," said Pasciucco. "I think the cartels saw it as an opportunity to kind of expand their portfolio, too."

The cartels have figured out they can make their own fentanyl by bringing in the raw ingredients, which are known as precursor chemicals, which are legal.

"What we've seen at LAX specifically, is precursor chemicals flying Air Cargo into Los Angeles," said Pasciucco.

In other words, packages airmailed from Asia to LAX.

The cartels then bring the chemicals over the border to their own labs in Mexico, synthesize it into fentanyl, and then smuggle it back to L.A. to be distributed around the world. Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of the DEA in Los Angeles, says it's given the cartels an unlimited supply.

"I mean, when you look at things like cocaine, heroin, things of that nature, you're talking about agriculture, right? You have a growing season, and it's time-consuming and it takes a lot of effort," explained Allen. "With synthetics, like fentanyl, I mean, there's an unlimited supply of chemicals. I mean it's never-ending. They just keep getting more and more and more."

And that's what will be hitting the streets of L.A. - and everywhere else - in what is promising to be a busy travel season.

This is Part 2 of an Eyewitness News investigation. Part 3 will air later this month on ABC7.