4 sons of drug lord 'El Chapo' charged with trafficking fentanyl

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US authorities announced on Friday sanctions against fentanyl trafficking networks, a particularly powerful synthetic opiate, which implicate China and Mexico.

US justice is thus attacking “ to the largest, most violent and prolific fentanyl trafficking operations run by the Sinaloa Cartel and fueled by chemical compounds from Chinese pharmaceutical companies,” Justice Minister Merrick Garland told a conference in press.

He clarified in particular that four sons of the founder of the Mexican cartel Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, nicknamed the “Chapitos”, were targeted by accusations.

These “send the clear message to the “Chapitos” , the Sinaloa Cartel and criminal drug trafficking networks around the world that the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) will take all necessary measures to protect the national security of the United States and the health and safety of Americans,” added Mr. .Garland.

The Treasury Department has sanctioned two entities in China and five individuals, based in China and Guatemala, involved in the supply of chemical compounds necessary for the manufacture of fentanyl.

“Illegal fentanyl is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans each year,” said Brian Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Affairs, in a separate statement.

The Department of State announced rewards for information leading to the arrest or prosecution of 27 people linked to this traffic.

In the United States, between 2020 and 2021, deaths linked to drug overdoses opioids jumped 17%, from 69,000 to 81,000.

And of 106,000 people who died of overdoses in 2022, 70,000 were linked to fentanyl, Senator Lindsey Graham recalled in March, accusing Mexican cartels of flooding the United States with this synthetic opiate 50 times more potent than heroin.