Mexico sentences 'El Mini Lic' for attempting to traffic fentanyl. Journalist Jesús Esquivel reported that Dámaso López Serrano, alias 'El Mini Lic', has been sentenced to five years in prison. He was arrested for attempting to traffic fentanyl while on supervised release due to a prior narcotics conviction, as he was acting as a cooperating witness. López Serrano, 37, is accused by Mexican authorities of the murder of journalist Javier Valdez Cárdenas in 2017, for which his extradition to the United States has been requested. The journalist noted that 'El Mini Lic's' case is not the first of a cooperating witness who, upon release, reverts to drug trafficking. Jesús Solé Viñas, a researcher at the Institute of Geology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), explained the difference between minerals and critical elements such as lithium, nickel, and molybdenum. He detailed how these materials support key industries: batteries, electronics, steels, and energy infrastructure. The specialist explained that 'critical' is defined by its economic importance and the risk in the supply chain: if a country depends on a single supplier and that flow is interrupted by war or a strategic decision, the material immediately becomes a vulnerability factor.
