The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned more than a dozen individuals and entities, comprising two distinct networks, linked to the terrorist Sinaloa Cartel and its fentanyl trafficking activities.
Armando de Jesus Ojeda Aviles leads a network involved in laundering the proceeds of fentanyl and other narcotics trafficking activities on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel. Jesus Gonzalez Penuelas, a fugitive from justice, heads a longstanding organization involved in trafficking illicit drugs into the United States and laundering funds for the Sinaloa Cartel. The violent Sinaloa Cartel is a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization responsible for a significant portion of the illicit fentanyl trafficked into the United States that kills tens of thousands of Americans each year.
“As President Trump has made clear, this Administration will not allow narco-terrorists to flood our borders with poison,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in statement released May 20.
This action reflects the culmination of a coordinated Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF)-led investigation involving the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). OFAC works in close coordination with the HSTFs, which target the proliferation of illicit drugs and the networks, enablers, and financial mechanisms that support their production and distribution. These sanctions were further coordinated with the Government of Mexico’s financial intelligence unit, the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera.
The terrorist Sinaloa Cartel is one of the oldest and most powerful cartels in Mexico and represents a major threat to the United States. The Sinaloa Cartel was identified by the United States in 2009 as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker.
Collectively referred to as Los Chapitos, the four sons of incarcerated Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar, Jesus Alfredo Guzman, Ovidio Guzman Lopez and Joaquin Guzman Lopez consolidated control over, and assumed leadership of, the Sinaloa Cartel following their father’s capture, extradition, and conviction in the United States on drug trafficking charges.
Although Ovidio and Joaquin are now in U.S. custody, Ivan and Alfredo remain at large and lead the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. This faction’s dominance over fentanyl trafficking is largely the result of its capacity to procure precursor chemicals, while also controlling production via its secret laboratories in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Since September 2024, turf wars between Los Chapitos and its rivals have engulfed Sinaloa, resulting in the deaths of over 600 people.
“Treasury Secretary Bessant says the U.S. Treasury Department “will continue to target terrorist cartels and their fentanyl trafficking networks to protect our communities and keep America Safe.”