A drug bust at the U.S.-Mexico border has revealed a new form of marijuana, officials say. The new type of weed doesn’t look like weed at all, according to Arizona authorities; instead, it’s a thick liquid that looks almost identical to used motor oil. But unlike motor oil, the substance is at least 80 percent pure THC concentrate, says Maricopa County Sheriff’s Detective Matthew Shay. “I started to see the people that would usually backpack marijuana through the desert were now backpacking crude oil,” Shay says. The “oil” is then distributed in cartridges, which can be smoked using vapes, Shay says.
For Mexican drug cartels, marijuana remains big business, but they're turning their attention to an even more potent product now crossing the border into the United States. https://t.co/9yU2BlqbZf
— FOX 13 News Utah (@fox13) January 8, 2020
The THC oil, which authorities believe is being manufactured by Mexican drug cartels, is currently being tested to determine if it’s responsible for U.S. lung illnesses caused by vape cartridges, Shay says. If it’s been determined the outbreak of lung illnesses was caused by illegal marijuana cartridges, why has the government banned flavored nicotine vape cartridges?
