The Mexican authorities have seized a record 37 tonnes of chemical products used to produce a highly addictive synthetic drug called methamfetamine in two separate operations this week.

One raid took place near the US border, the other in the Pacific port of Manzanillo. The interior ministry says the cache seizure was the most important of its kind in Mexican history. Mexico is one of the world's largest producers of methamfetamine.

Photo: drugs lab used to produce amphetamines (Wikipedia/US Government)