The US sanctions the Sinaloa cartel’s fentanyl trade

NOW sanctioned this Wednesday a Mexico-based company and ten Mexicans, including several members of the Sinaloa cartel, “responsible for a significant portion” of the smuggling of fentanyl into US territory.

The Treasury Department said in a statement that those sanctioned were linked to Los Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa cartel led by the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.

They are among those sanctioned Noel Lopez PerezChapo’s brother-in-law, as well as Ricardo Páez Lope, also related to the family.

According to the US, both are involved in the trafficking of chemicals for the production of fentanyl, the surveillance of laboratories that produce the drug and its subsequent smuggling into the United States through tunnels.

REI company based in Metepec (Mexico), was sanctioned for regularly receiving shipments of chemicals imported from China for the production of synthetic opioids. Its majority shareholder, Eliseo de León Becerra, was also subject to sanctions.

“America continues with actions in the fight against the fentanyl epidemic”it is stated in the press release Secretary of State Antony Blinken who said he was working with law enforcement agencies around the world to “dismantle” drug trafficking networks and cartels.

The head of diplomacy recalled that the United States is offering more than 30 rewards totaling $75 million for information that helps bring fentanyl traffickers to justice.

As a result of the imposed sanctions, all assets and interests of the sanctioned individuals and entities in the United States will be blocked.

The announcement coincides with the establishment last week of a Washington-led global coalition of some 80 countries to combat the trade in fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that causes thousands of overdose deaths in the United States each year.