The tooth fairy is real, Santa Claus really does deliver presents on Christmas, and a Mexican cartel has promised that they are putting an end to one of its biggest money-makers.

A Mexican drug cartel that was once ruled by the now-jailed Mexican drug lord “El Chapo” has barred the production of fentanyl — under penalty of death.

According to The Wall Street Journal, cartel operatives that the newspaper interviewed said the Sinaloa Cartel was prohibiting both the production and trafficking of the drug after increasing pressure from law enforcement in the U.S.

You know, because the cartel takes orders from Sleep Joe.

“In Sinaloa, the sale, manufacture, transport or any kind of business involving the substance known as fentanyl, including the sale of chemical products for its elaboration, is permanently banned,” read one of several banners hung in Culiacan.

Yes, the cartel uses billboards. It is an effective marketing technique.

“You have been warned,” it read. “Sincerely yours, the Chapitos.”

However, some law enforcement officials are skeptical this will do anything to curb the opioid drug trade, and may even subsequently lead to an increase in heroin and cocaine trafficking.

“In the aggregate, it won’t mean anything,” one U.S. official told the newspaper. “They think if they do this, they won’t take as much heat.”

Several cartel operatives told the Journal that they had ceased production of the drug because the cartel had started killing anyone involved with fentanyl. This includes both producing and trafficking the drug.

According to the newspaper, some members of the cartel that they spoke with said they ceased involvement because they could either no longer get the chemicals needed to make fentanyl, or they found another person who had been killed and had little blue pills thrown all over them. It was also noted that nearly 12 people believed to be involved with the cartels have been kidnapped or gone missing in the past couple of weeks. And they are all believed to be involved with the production of fentanyl.

Well, that is definitely one way to get your point across. What a fascinating way to produce a public service announcement.

“We believe these kidnappings and disappearances are linked to the ban on fentanyl because their relatives have presented formal complaints to authorities,” said Michael Angel Murillo, an activist with the Sinaloa Civic Front. “These people are very scared.”

What really could have happened here is that this specific cartel realized that providing a product that so easily kills the consumer is not the best marketing strategy long term.

You know, because a drug that is not very hard to kill someone is typically not good for business. Since this would lead to a reduction in sales. And you cannot really have a returning customer if they are dead.

All that said, fentanyl remains one of the cartel’s biggest money-makers. And maybe, just maybe, 75,000 fentanyl-related deaths are still not enough to hinder their profits.

“It’s almost like a big campaign to convince the U.S. they’re not involved. It’s nothing more than pure propaganda,” Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said.

That seems like a more plausible solution if you ask me. But since the cartel pinky promised that they would stop, maybe they actually will. Right?