Puebla's state prosecutor's office reported that a girl hospitalized for food poisoning in Huauchinango tested positive for fentanyl due to medications given at the hospital. President Claudia Sheinbaum ordered an investigation into whether the substance was in the tamales eaten by the children. Authorities are analyzing food samples while one girl remains under observation.
On Saturday, February 14, six minors were admitted to Huauchinango General Hospital after showing symptoms of food poisoning allegedly from eating tamales. The State Prosecutor's Office of Puebla opened an investigation file for culpable injuries.
On Thursday, February 19, the prosecutor's office reported that one of the girls, aged 10, tested positive in a toxicology screening for barbiturates, methadone, and fentanyl. However, it attributed the result to medications administered during over 10 hours at the hospital to treat convulsive crises. The girl was oriented, with coherent speech and neurologically intact.
Toxicological analyses of urine samples from the minors and adults came back negative for drugs of abuse, including opiates. Food samples are undergoing analysis using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry.
In her conference on February 19, President Claudia Sheinbaum stated she instructed the Security Cabinet and the Health Secretariat to verify if it was indeed fentanyl and how it reached the tamales. She noted that seven minors, aged 2 to 11, were affected, with six discharged and one still hospitalized. Sheinbaum emphasized that fentanyl consumption in Mexico is 'very low' compared to the United States and has decreased recently.
The US Ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, expressed regret over the incident on social media, stating that 'fentanyl does not distinguish if you are from Mexico or the United States' and that 'it does not distinguish between an adult or a defenseless child.' He added that it reinforces the urgency to dismantle drug trafficking networks.
The prosecutor's office continues with proceedings, including interviews and expert analyses, to clarify the facts.
