(LibertySociety.com) – The Department of Justice announced on April 14th, 2023, that they were unsealing criminal charges against alleged leaders of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, with 28 defendants listed in the indictment. In addition, the Treasury Department has placed sanctions against Chinese entities for supplying chemicals to make fentanyl to Guatemalan brokers who then hand them over to the cartels. After the fentanyl is manufactured, it is then shipped across the southern border into the interior of the United States.
The defendants are accused of transporting large amounts of fentanyl and other drugs using couriers, transporting them through tunnels between the United States and Mexico, while also setting up stash houses in both countries. This trafficking network has reportedly made the cartels hundreds of millions of dollars at the expense of American lives. Among the defendants arrested are three sons of the drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, along with one other relative of the family.
United States Attorney General Merrick Garland released a statement about the arrests, expressing his belief that the approach they are taking to combat the cartels will save the lives of Americans who are increasingly affected by the fentanyl epidemic. Garland stated that the massive trafficking operation is “run by the Sinaloa Cartel, and fueled by Chinese precursor chemical and pharmaceutical companies,” stressing the violent nature of the cartel. An official from the Biden administration reiterated President Biden’s call for interrupting the flow of fentanyl into the country, according to Fox News, stating that tackling the threat to national security and public health that fentanyl poses is “a priority of the highest order.”
The Treasury Department froze the assets of the Chinese and Guatemalan entities, including money, property, and other interests. The Biden administration is also working to disrupt the activities of the Sinaloa Cartel, as well as another large cartel, Jalisco, by mapping their network of operations. The administration is using the private sector while also working with international partners to combat the increasing threat to the United States and the world.
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